Sonic the Hedgehog: Tales of Soleanna
by The Brawler
Summary: Join Sonic and co. as they protect the city of Soleanna from Eggman. For SonicXElise fans. Changed to T rating to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Sorry for short chapter, they will get longer. Dedicated to Babylon Sky Hawk (his Sonic Heroes: The Series story inspired me) and Sonic Phantom for being the Sonise fan that made me think about writing a Sonise story. Enjoy and read and review**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 1: How It Started

The city of Soleanna was in ruins. Buildings were burning, the pavement was cracked and people were in fear as thunder cracked the air. In the midst of it all were a group of anthropomorphs. A blue hedgehog, an orange fox, a red echidna, a pink hedgehog, a yellow rabbit, a black hedgehog, a white bat, a red robot, a white hedgehog and a purple cat. They were the only hope for the city and the world, but they were doing nothing, for the blue hedgehog was heartbroken. He had lost the will to fight and had given up. How did this happen, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. It started several months ago.

Sonic the Hedgehog was relaxing. After winning another fight against Eggman, he decided to take a break. Right now, he was lying on a hillside on the outskirts of Westopolis. If you saw him, you'd think he was asleep. But he wasn't, he was too busy thinking. Yes, Sonic was thinking and not on his feet for once! He was thinking back to the time when he saved time itself from a crazy sun god, Solaris. And in order to put an end to it, he and a friend of his went back in time and put out the flame that would become Solaris. That in turn, caused a time reboot, meaning that all those events never happened. Sonic, for some reason, was the only one who could remember, but he didn't bring it up. It made him think about her. The 'her' in question was the friend he made whilst fighting Eggman in the city of Soleanna. Her name was Elise and she was the princess there. At the time, Eggman was kidnapping her so he could release the Flames of Disaster. But Sonic carried on saving her. Thanks to the time reboot, she no longer contains them and is living a happy life. But she no longer remembers him. That wasn't the only thing that was bothering him.

During his time at Soleanna, he was killed by the other half of Solaris, Mephiles the Dark. However, Elise brought him back with the Chaos Emeralds and her…kiss? Remembering this, Sonic opened his eyes and sat up, one thought swirling round his head. Did she love him and does he feel the same way about her? Sonic wouldn't be able to sleep as long as that was bothering him. And he couldn't just ask Elise, she wouldn't remember it. Then, the answer came in the form of a newspaper caught in the wind. Sonic grabbed it and looked at the heading, "Race to Be Held in Soleanna." This was perfect, Sonic thought. Not only could he see Elise again, he could take part in a race as well. Without a moment to lose, Sonic sped off towards Soleanna, ready to face his old friend once more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I want to apologise in advance if you find the OC names silly. Anyways, enjoy!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 2: The Race Begins

In the city of Soleanna, there stood a castle, home to Princess Elise, ruler of Soleanna. As mentioned in the last chapter, Sonic thought she was living a happy life. He was wrong.

At the moment, Elise was standing on the balcony in deep thought. She had been having weird dreams lately, and last night's one really got her mind turning. Her dreams were normally the same. The city was covered in flames and a huge monster was in the centre of it. But last night, she dreamt she was walking in a green field with a blue hedgehog. And, for some bizarre reason, she was happy being with him, like she knew him from somewhere. But she didn't know any blue hedgehog. She didn't even know any other species besides humans. She wasn't really allowed to leave the city. Her advisor was really strict.

Speak of the devil, a tall, rather sharp, looking man walked onto the balcony. He was sharply dressed in green, with galoshes, white gloves and spectacles. He was the Royal Advisor, Augustus Smit.

"Your Highness, the race is about to begin" he said. Elise shuddered. Being the princess, she had to attend all important things. After being told about this race, she began wishing for something to happen to postpone it. Nothing. The day was perfect and the whole city was going to be watching it. She wouldn't have minded herself if she wasn't going to actually meet the winner and invite him to the castle. She'd already seen the participants and they were all cocky male teenagers who probably thought she was the trophy. Even though she was beautiful and most boys would fight over her, she didn't want to be in a relationship at the moment. Smit kept saying, "You must find someone soon, otherwise you won't have a strong king to rule with you". In order to get him to leave she always retaliated by saying "Do you mean I don't have what it takes to rule the kingdom?" This always got him stuttering for an answer, eventually running off. He was a bit of a wimp.

Anyway, she really wasn't looking forward to this. As she walked towards the carriage that would take her to the race, she began thinking what to say to the winner if they tried something with her. She was the princess, but she knew some men were greedy and tried coming up with something to get them to know she wasn't interested. She couldn't say something horrible. She was too nice. It took Elise a while until she realised they were there. She got out and went to sit in the royal chair, near the start/finish line. She looked at all the participants and they were all the same, looking extremely cocky that if they won, she'd want them. She was slightly disgusted and turned away, not wanting to look.

Meanwhile, the announcer was reading out the participant's names. "And in lane 7 is our resident speedster, Sam Nic!" At this, a few girls cried in delight as a 20 year old man, in a blue shirt, jeans and roller skates appeared on the scene, waving to the crowd. One word came into Elise's head as she looked at him, arrogant. But Elise knew of Nic's reputation and had a big feeling that he would be the one she'd have to show around the castle. Then, she received a big shock as she heard the name of the final contestant. "And in lane 8 is…Oh my God! Can you believe it people; the fastest thing in the world is here! It's Sonic the Hedgehog!" Elise turned and there, standing next to Nic was a blue hedgehog. The same one in her dreams.

Sonic was feeling both confident and nervous. He knew the chances of him losing were slim, very slim. But when he found out that the winner would be shown round the castle with Elise, he began to sweat. He wanted to see her but not in her own home. A lot of sick thoughts were in his mind and he tried to shake them out, but Elise's smiling face stayed in there. He finally pulled himself together and took his place next to Nic. He looked around and waved to the crowd. He actually got more screams than Nic and even saw some people wearing Sonic hats. While waving, he saw Elise, looking at him. He was stunned to see her after all this time. She didn't seem to have changed one bit. He was so enthralled, he inadvertently waved to her. When he realised what he did, he turned away suddenly. Elise herself was confused. Did Sonic know who she was?

Nic had seen Sonic waving to Elise and whispered to him "Listen, pal. I don't care if you are the fastest thing alive, I'm winning this race". Sonic smirked. "Like to see you try" he replied. The flagman took his place. "OK. The first one to go all round the course and back here wins not just the trophy, but is given a chance to meet Princess Elise in her castle! To avoid getting yourself lost, follow the arrows. Also, there is to be no mid-race fights. And if you leave the track, you automatically lose. Got that?" The contestants all nodded their heads. The flagman lifted the flag. "On your marks, get set, GO!"

Everyone shot off after he swung the flag down. However, two people were further ahead than the rest, Sonic and Nic. Sonic was just ahead of Nic and trying to maintain the lead. Man, he's faster than I thought. Better not get cocky, he thought.

Back with Elise, she was listening to the commentator. "Six of the contestants seem to be lacking true speed. Nic and Sonic are the only ones who have a chance of winning. At the moment, Sonic is just ahead and picking up speed". Elise put her hands together, wishing that Sonic would win. She needed to get some answers of him.

Back with Sonic. He had already manoeuvred around the course and was steadily approaching the finish line. There was no way that Nic could catch up. Then Sonic noticed something, a floating silver dome-shaped vehicle, the Eggmobile. And sitting in it was Sonic's arch-enemy, Eggman! "What's Egg-head up to?" Sonic thought. He was about to stop and follow when he realised that if he left, he'd lose the race. If he kept going though, Eggman would be out of sight. He sighed as he realised what he was about to do. He skidded to a halt, turned and chased after Eggman.

The whole crowd was surprised as they saw Sonic leave the track. "Unbelievable! Sonic has left the race! That means that Nic looks like a sure winner!" And he couldn't have been more right. Nic crossed the finish line, with a triumphant look on his face. As the crowd cheered, he walked up to Elise and bowed before her. He looked up, expecting to see a longing look in her eyes. But saw nothing. Elise had her head down in disappointment, thinking about why Sonic would leave? She was brought back to reality when Smit cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, I believe you must congratulate Mr. Nic here on his victory. "Oh, well done" she said in a dull tone, handing Nic the trophy. The man in question was stupefied. He was being given the cold shoulder. No girl didn't want him. So why was she different? At that precise moment, he swore he would make Elise his.

Back with Sonic, he had followed Eggman to an abandoned warehouse. After he saw Eggman go in, he followed him. Inside, he hid behind a crate as he heard Eggman speaking. "Excellent. With this, Soleanna will be mine!" Sonic poked his head round the corner to see what Eggman was talking about and saw what looked like a giant mech suit. It had a clear dome on its head, its right arm was a missile launcher and its left arm was a huge sword. Sonic thought it be best to destroy the mech while he had the chance. That plan went down the drain when he turned to find one of Eggmans white robots (from Sonic Next-Gen) facing him.

He ran out of his cover to avoid being shot. But this allowed Eggman to spot him. "Ah, Sonic. Come to witness my take-over of this city?" he asked his life-long enemy. "Nah, more like stop it?" Sonic replied. "I'd like to see you try. Robots, attack!" On Eggman's orders, a bunch of white mechs and red ones with missile launchers appeared and began shooting at Sonic. He used his super speed to avoid the shots and jumped on top of one of them. Another turned to fire but Sonic jumped at the last minute, causing the robot to shoot its partner. Sonic came down to bounce off another robot, kicking against it to jump off and onto a pile of crates. The robots began to shoot, but didn't notice that Sonic was standing on a pile of exploding crates. Sonic jumped into the air again, letting the explosion finish the robots off. He then turned to fight Eggman but noticed, instead, a much larger robot with thick armour holding a hammer (like in Sonic Heroes).

As he back flipped to avoid being squashed by the hammer, Eggman had got inside and activated the mech suit. Using the rocket boosters, Eggman took off, smashing through the ceiling and headed towards the centre of the city.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Read and review. No flames!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 3: Cityscape Battle

Elise and Nic were sitting in a café together. Elise didn't really want to go somewhere really posh; she was getting sick of those. Nic agreed, seeing as now his wallet was as empty as a public toilet. But that didn't matter, he thought. Once he had Elise, he could buy everything he wanted. But the so called 'date' wasn't as going as he hoped.

Every time he tried to strike a conversation, she'd simply reply with a yes, no, don't know, maybe or the occasional nod. He was beginning to get frustrated but kept his cool. All the while, he was wondering what was going on in her head. He guessed that it was the blue hedgehog that chickened out of the race and he couldn't have been more right. Elise was still trying to think why Sonic left. He could've easily won. Was he maybe afraid to see her? But that would mean that he knew her and they had never met. Or had they? All this was beginning to hurt her brain. She came back to reality when her food arrived and stopped thinking about Sonic for a while.

Speaking of the blue devil, he was getting tossed about in the warehouse by Eggman's robot. He had tried attacking it but he just bounced off. The armour was too tough for him to break. It looked as if Sonic had finally met his match. The robot brought its hammer down but Sonic rolled out of the way. He decided to simply avoid the hammer until he thought of a plan. He started running round the robot so it couldn't squash him with its hammer. But the robot followed him with its eyes. But Sonic was too fast. Soon the robot became dizzy, eventually falling flat on its back.

Sonic saw what he had done and smirked. It was defenceless. That should buy him some time. He stood there desperately thinking. If only Tails was here. He'd have a plan. Or better yet, Knuckles. He'd tear that thing in half. While in thought, he didn't notice the robot pick up its hammer and throw it at him. Before the hammer hit, Sonic noticed and jumped out of the way. Then the hammer vanished and appeared in the robot's hand. So while it was on its back, it could still attack. The hammer trick reminded Sonic of Amy. Then an idea popped into his head. You could almost hear the angels singing Hallelujah.

Sonic ran towards the robot and jumped into the air. He was now above the robot. It threw its hammer at him, which Sonic managed to dodge. That's when the hammer began to fall back down. Due to gravity and the fact it was heavy, the hammer landed on the robot, crushing the armour and destroying it. With the job done, Sonic ran after Eggman.

Back at the café, Elise and Nic were on their way out. Nic had paid with what little money he had left and they had decided to return to the castle, well, Nic had. They were crossing the main plaza when Eggman appeared. While, the sight of a fat man in a giant robotic suit would be normal for someone living in Station Square, here in Soleanna, it was as normal as a crazy time god destroying the fabric of time itself (wait that did happen!). Anyway, people were sent into a panic.

Eggman spoke through the microphone of his latest creation. "Attention, citizens of Soleanna! I am Dr. Eggman, the greatest scientific genius in the world! Surrender and simply allow me to take over your city or I **will** use force!"

Nic, upon seeing the robot, turned tail and ran. No way was he going up against that, not even for Elise. But she didn't care. She calmly walked up to Eggman and said "As princess of Soleanna, I can not allow you to do this". Eggman laughed at this. "You! You're just a girl! You don't stand a chance against me!" Elise stood her ground. Deep down she was afraid. But she couldn't let this madman take over her city. Seeing as she wasn't moving, Eggman sighed. "Very well" he said, as the sword arm turned into a claw and grabbed the princess. The nearby crowd gasped and Smit was seen running towards it. "Guards, save the princess!" A group of green clad men arrived brandishing swords. Eggman chuckled at their attempt. "How primitive" he stated as he summoned more of his white fighters. As any sane person would know, swords don't stand a chance against guns as the guards were shown as their swords were knocked out of their hands by the robots' blasters. Eggman was looking pleased. This was too easy for him! "Look here. I have you outnumbered, weaponless and I have your princess! Surrender now!" Smit looked at the situation. Eggman was right; they didn't have a hope in hell of winning. He was about to say they gave up when the wind started to pick up. It was going much faster than usual. Everyone else felt it, including Elise. But she couldn't help but feel she felt it before. Then everyone heard the voice that followed afterwards.

"My, that's a pretty snazzy performance there!" Everyone turned to see Sonic standing on top of the fountain. As soon as they saw him, the robots open fired at him, but he easily dodged the bullets as he used his Homing Attack on every one of them. Once they were gone, Eggman decided to take charge. He activated the missile launcher and fired missile after missile at the speedy hog. Sonic avoided every one and sliced through the arm holding Elise. Now, I must say that the robot was pretty damn tall. And with nothing holding her, Elise fell.

The crowd stood there in shock as they watched their ruler fall. Thankfully, Sonic was under her and catched her. Elise looked at her saviour and was surprised. "You" was all she could say. Sonic smiled, "Hey there. I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" He looked back to see Eggman preparing to fire another barrage of missiles. "Hold on tight!" Sonic told Elise as he ran off. Elise obeyed and held on for dear life. All the while, missiles were aiming at them, but managed to either hit nearby buildings or the floor. While Sonic was suffering déjà vu, Elise felt a funny feeling in her chest. It was her heart beating, probably because of the excitement. But she couldn't help but feel safe with Sonic and that she could trust him with her life. She began to think about her dreams again. In the most recent one, Sonic was carrying her through a forest and they came across the most beautiful place she'd ever seen. There were flowers everywhere and she was feeling happy, something she hasn't felt for a long time. Something about this hedgehog made her happy but what was it?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Sonic set her down on the roof of a building (she nearly fell off when she saw how high they were). "Stay here!" Sonic told her, as he sped off back to Eggman. When he came face to face with Eggman, the doctor was getting mad. "You're persistent aren't you?" he snarled. "What can I say?" a cocky Sonic replied. Eggman was fired another missile but Sonic decided to pull off one of his famous tricks, missile riding!

Sonic jumped on top of the missile and directed it back to Eggman. Seeing this, the mad scientist ejected himself from the suit. He somehow landed into his Eggmobile. Sonic, meanwhile, decided to jump off the missile and let it blow up the suit.

With his robot ruined, Eggman flew off yelling "This isn't the end Sonic! I will take over this city!" Sonic simply smiled at the challenge and turned to walk away, when he was suddenly dog-piled by the crowd. They were all saying stuff like "Oh, I'm a really big fan" and "Why'd you leave the race?" until Smit arrived. The crowd parted to let him through. He looked down at Sonic with what looked like disgust. "You. You've ruined this city!" he accused the blue hero. Sonic was shocked. He'd just saved it and was being treated like he was responsible for Eggman's attack. "And what's more, you've lost our princess!" Smit continued. Sonic rubbed his ear, seeing as how Smit was so close to him. Before he could reply, Elise appeared (she'd somehow got down from the roof). "I'm fine, Smit. May I speak with him, in privacy?" "Your Majesty, this thing nearly destroyed the city! He's dangerous and…" Smit trailed off when he saw Elise giving him a really stern look. Sonic was impressed. Guess she has changed a bit, he thought.

With Smit taken care off, Sonic and Elise took a carriage back to the castle. The first couple of minutes were awkward for both of them. Sonic was in the presence of someone who he knew very well, but who didn't remember him while Elise was sitting next to someone who she'd never met but had a dream about. Elise was the first to finally speak. "Have we met before?" she asked. Sonic began to get very nervous. "Uh, no… no I don't think he have. Why?" he responded. Elise then began to get worried. "It's just that… last night, I had this dream where you were carrying me through a forest and you showed me this place with loads of flowers. I thought it might mean something". Sonic knew what Elise was talking about but he couldn't say. He just shrugged and said "It was just a dream. Could mean anything". Elise nodded in agreement. She was glad to finally get that off her chest.

When they arrived at the castle, Sonic was amazed by how big it was on the inside. He then noticed something. "Hey, why am I here? I thought that Nic guy was supposed to be with you". "Yeah, but he ran off when he saw that Eggman person. I don't mind though. I didn't like him very much" she replied. "By the ay, why'd you leave the race?" "Oh, well I saw Eggman and thought that he was up to something". "OK. Only, I was hoping you would win". Sonic was surprised. "Why?" Elise looked a bit nervous about answering. "Well, I know we haven't known each other long, but I feel like I've known you longer. I feel that I can trust you because you're so kind and sweet and…" She stopped herself at sweet. Sonic was surprised that Elise called him sweet. Maybe these dreams were giving her slight glimpses of what happened before.

Sonic decided to change the subject. "Eggman said he was going to come back to take over the city. I'd better stay in Soleanna to make sure he doesn't" he explained. "You could stay here" Elise suggested. "In the castle" asked Sonic. Elise nodded, "Sure. I mean, I've got plenty of rooms. You could stay in one of the spare ones". Sonic wasn't so sure about this. Those dirty thoughts he had back at the race were beginning to re-surface. "I'm not sure. That old guy doesn't seem to like me" he said, trying to find an excuse. "Oh, don't worry about Smit. He never questions me. Not exactly the best Royal Advisor" Elise giggled. Sonic smiled when he saw Elise happy. He never liked seeing people sad, especially those he cared about. "OK, why not? I'll stay!" he said. Elise smiled and Sonic smiled back.

That night, in a desert region in another country, a claw shot out of the sand and dragged a figure out of the ground. The figure looked around and looked at his claw. He was surprised to find himself alive. He looked to the sky and held his hand up, as if to grab the moon, then clenched his fist. "It's good to be back. Now for revenge!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for sucky ending. I originally planned to do this in three seperate chapters but saw them to be too short. So, I put them together. Leaves more time for the action! R&R**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 4: Old Companions

It's been three days since Sonic decided to stay with Elise so he could protect the city. At the moment he was doing fine. Robots occasionally attacked but Sonic quickly took care of them. The people of Soleanna were happy in knowing the world famous hero was not only saving their city but living in it as well. The council even declared that they would build a statue of Sonic in his honour. In short, Sonic was loved by all. Well, almost all.

Smit was the only one who saw Sonic as a menace. He believed he was dangerous and treated life like a joke, someone the princess shouldn't be allowed near. Unfortunately for him, Sonic and Elise had begun a friendship (or restarted in Sonic's case) and spent most of their time together. She also told him all about her dreams. Recently, she dreamt jumping out of Eggman's craft and Sonic catching her. Sonic said he had no idea what that was about but secretly, he knew it was something else that happened when he last saw Elise.

In the middle of one of their conversations, Smit showed up. "Your Majesty. As you may recall, we sent for a shipment of materials from Station Square. I received a call that the boy sending them should be here any moment" he stated. Elise sighed but Sonic said "Hey. It's important. And if it's really boring, I'll be there for you to complain to". Elise gave a small smile but Smit didn't approve of that. He didn't try to not show he hated Sonic. Too bad no one listens to him.

Sonic and Elise were standing at where the pilot would land. Smit was also there, as well as a few guards. Smit had a smirk on his face. No doubt the pilot was a young man who Elise will certainly fall for and then she'll leave that irritating hedgehog he thought to himself. He couldn't help but feel that Elise was starting to see Sonic as… His thoughts were cut off when they saw a plane coming in. Everyone was expecting to see a really big plane but it was surprisingly small. It had a box that was floating along behind it, as if something was holding it up in the air. As it got closer, Sonic recognised it. "That's the Tornado!" Elise turned to him. "The what?" Before Sonic could answer, the plane landed and in the cockpit was an orange fox with two tails, hence the name Tails.

"Tails!" Sonic cried as he waved to his friend. Tails, noticing Sonic, waved back as he got out of the plane. "Hey Sonic! What are you doing here?" he asked. "Oh, just protecting the city from Eggman. Why are you here?" Sonic asked back. "I'm delivering the materials that Soleanna ordered". There was a thud when Smit fainted. He was expecting a human. Not some two-tailed freak!

Tails explained to Sonic that the box with the materials only floated because of the devices he put on the bottom. Then Sonic introduced Tails to Elise. He knew they had met before but they wouldn't know that. Tails bowed but Elise said that wasn't necessary. She didn't like being treated like a princess all the time. As she shook Tails' hand, she recognised him from her dreams. Had she met this boy before somewhere?

As the guards took the materials and the unconscious Smit, Sonic told Elise everything he knew about Tails. "So, you're good at building things, huh?" she asked. Tails nodded. "There's nothing I can't build or fix and if there is, I don't know about it yet" the young fox said, with a smile on his face. Elise was impressed that a boy of his age was so smart. Then an idea came to her head. "Look, this may seem a bit forward but, how'd you like to be a mechanic here? The city could do with someone like you" she explained. Tails thought about it. "Sure. I'd be glad to help. Only where can I stay? Where are you staying at Sonic?" he asked his 'brother'. "I'm living with Elise" he said, but after replaying what he said in head he spluttered out "I don't mean like, you know. We're just in the same building that's all! OK?" Tails was taken back a bit. "OK, calm down. I wasn't gonna say anything about that" he replied. Elise was as shocked as Tails was. Was Sonic hiding something? About her and him?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of gun shots. Sonic and Tails looked at each other and ran off in the direction. "Elise, go back to the castle!" Sonic told her. Elise looked on as they went off. She was surprised that Tails could keep up with Sonic by spinning his tails. She then did something crazy. She followed them.

Eggman was watching his robots cause mayhem. He was wearing his wicked smile until he saw Sonic and Tails arrive. "So, you brought the fox boy too. Perfect, more of you pests to take care off!" he smirked. He then summoned another robot that looked like the one that Sonic destroyed at the warehouse, only it wasn't carrying a hammer. It just had two fists. This blew Sonic's previous plan out of the window. He made a dash for it but was bounced back by the armour. Tails, seeing this, pulled out a few fake rings and threw them at the robot, stunning it.

"Thanks, Tails" Sonic said. "How are we supposed to hurt it if its armour is too hard to break?" Tails questioned. While he tried to think of a plan, the rings wore off and the robot fired its fist from its arm. Sonic and Tails managed to jump out of the way in time. The robot recalled its fist and fired both of them. Sonic and Tails continued to dodge the fists. Lucky too. The fists left craters in the floor. The robot focused on Tails but he flew over it. Unfortunately, the fist carried its trajectory and Elise was standing in its path.

Sonic prepared to make another assault to see if he could find a weakness until he heard a scream. Elise was caught in the robot's fist. "Stand down, Sonic! Or the princess will be in a world of hurt" Eggman threatened. Sonic became angry but knew that Elise was in danger and didn't want to see her hurt. He was about to step down when something ripped the robot's arm off. Elise was let go and caught by Sonic. "Elise, I thought I told you to go back to the castle" he said scornfully. Elise looked upset, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to get some excitement". Sonic's expression softened and turned to see who had helped them. He was shocked when he saw a red echidna with dreadlocks and spikes on his fists. It was Knuckles!

"Stand back, Sonic! I'll handle this!" declared Knuckles. The robot with its remaining arm, tried to pound Knuckles into the ground but the emerald guardian jumped over it and sent his fist into the robots belly and ripped something out. He jumped back in time to see the robot explode. Eggman began sweating nervously. "I better be going" he said. "Yeah, you should be!" Knuckles yelled. He jumped and punched Eggman's craft into the distance.

Sonic and Tails ran up to their old ally. "What are you doing here, Knuckles?" asked Tails. "Eggman stole something from me" Knuckles explained. He opened his hand to show what he meant. It was a white jewel that Sonic and Tails had seen before. A Chaos Emerald. It must have been powering the robot. Elise stared at the emerald. She felt she had seen those before somewhere too.

After the introductions were made, Knuckles decided to stay. He could help them find Chaos Emeralds with the Master Emerald, which he brought for safekeeping. On the way back to the castle, Elise pulled Sonic aside. "I can't help but feel I've seen those two before" she told him, indicating Tails and Knuckles. Sonic guessed that she had seen them in her dreams too. He shrugged it off, still pretending that the dreams were just a coincidence.

Back at the castle, Sonic said "It's weird that I should happen to meet you two here" he said to his old friends. Knuckles chuckled, "Yeah, who's next?" Smit decided to approach them. He looked a bit shaken and took one look at Knuckles and shuddered. More of them. That's all he needed. "Mr. Sonic. There is someone here to meet you. She said it was of the utmost importance" he explained. Sonic raised an eyebrow. "She?" Then realization hit him. "Oh no, not…" He was cut off by a shriek from a girl further down. "SONIC!" It was Amy.

She ran straight towards the blue hero, completely ignoring Tails, Knuckles and Elise. "Don't you remember what day it is?" she asked angrily. "Uh, Tuesday?" Sonic suggested, with a nervous smile. This just got Amy even madder. "Today was when you promised to take me on a date!" she yelled. While Sonic immediately remembered, Elise looked at Amy with surprise. She'd seen her in the dreams as well. But she also heard Amy say 'date'.

"Are you Sonic's girlfriend?" she asked. Amy, having finally taken notice of Elise, immediately dropped the angry expression and smiled. "Yes, I'm Amy Rose. It's nice to meet you. You must be Elise?" Elise nodded. "I'm sorry for being so rude, but Sonic here can be so forgetful" she explained. Sonic groaned. "Amy, please, I'm not your boyfriend" he said. Amy responded by giving him a huge hug that crushed his ribcage, again. "Oh, don't be silly" she said. "We're destined to be together" she continued. Sonic managed to escape the hug and started to run. Amy suddenly pulled the hammer out. "Get back here, Sonic!" As they watched Sonic doing his best to shake her off, Tails said "This is gonna be a long day". Knuckles nodded in agreement and Elise just watched, with a slight smile on her face. She couldn't help but find this funny. Guess Sonic isn't exactly a lover's man, she thought. Suddenly, she caught a quick glimpse of her and Sonic in the pace with all the flowers and she and Sonic were hugging. She snapped back to reality just as quickly. What was that? she thought. Was that a friendly like hug or, something else?


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm going back to school tomorrow so I won't have as much free time as I'd like. I'll update whenever I can. Also, apologies for shoving Cream in at the first chance I got. I forgot to include her in the last chapter.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 5: The Bodyguards

Last time, Sonic reunited with Tails, Knuckles and Amy. It also turned out that Cream was there too. She had come along with Amy because she'd never seen Soleanna. Elise was surprised that, for once, she didn't recognise Cream.

After Amy stopped chasing Sonic, Tails got to work making an Emerald detector, with the Master Emerald acting as something he could base it on. Clearly, Eggman is after the Chaos Emeralds to help him take over Soleanna. So the five decided to remain in the city until Eggman was defeated. Elise didn't mind having all these friends in the castle. She was glad for the company and had enough room for everyone. At the moment, she slept in her own room, Sonic shared with Tails, Amy shared with Cream and Knuckles slept on his own.

There was only one person who wasn't happy, Smit. Having Sonic being around the princess was bad enough, but now he had five of them in the castle. It's pretty clear now that Smit has a distaste for anthros. He believed that they would be a bad influence on Elise. He also thought that they couldn't protect the princess from Eggman. He'd seen their antics over the last week against Eggman. He especially hated Sonic. All he did was run circles round them, letting them do damage to the city and then defeat them. And he got praise for it! It made his blood boil. And the way he treated the princess. He acted as if she wasn't anyone important, just some ordinary girl! He got so mad at this, he went to drastic measures.

He managed to get rid of Sonic and co. by sending them off to a restaurant. With them out of the way, he walked up to Elise in the hall. "Your Majesty, I believe that those animals aren't suitable to be looking after you" he stated, he didn't mention the fact that he hated their guts. Elise shrugged it off. "I can look after myself, Smit. They're just friends. Besides if I were to get in trouble, Sonic would save me" she explained. Just hearing the name caused Smit to grit his teeth. "But he's irresponsible! Why would you want him around causing havoc? It's not like you have feelings for him". He chuckled a bit thinking about it. Hedgehog and human? What a joke. But Elise stiffened at this comment. She had been observing Sonic for a while. He was so carefree and he made your heart race. She was happy when she was with him. But she couldn't be falling in love with him, could she?

"Anyway," Smit continued, "I've talked with GUN and I've hired bodyguards to accompany you everywhere to protect you. To see if they really are the top agents, their first job will be protecting you at the Sun Festival". The Sun Festival was another event Elise hated. Having to light a huge torch to celebrate their sun god, which she believed never existed, was bad enough, staring into those flames. Those dreams taught her that fire is dangerous and can easily destroy the world. But what she hated the most was wearing that fake smile she wore most of her life as ruler. But then she remembered that Sonic would be there. That would make her feel better. "Oh, by the way, those friends of yours can't come" Smit said, snapping her out of her thoughts. She was shocked by this. "Why not?" she demanded. She was feeling a bit angry, a feeling that she rarely felt. "The Sun Festival can only be attended by citizens of Soleanna and since those animals aren't proper citizens, they can't attend" he explained calmly. "But those bodyguards…" Elise began but Smit cut her off. "They have a job to protect you. So, they can come" Smit said. "Now, I'm going to get things prepared".

As Smit walked off, Elise felt very angry. Since when was it Smit's job to make the choices! She was the princess, she should be allowed to decide. She noticed her hands were shaking so stopped herself. She regained calmness. Whether she liked it or not, she was getting bodyguards and Sonic and his friends weren't coming to the Sun Festival.

* * *

In the desert mentioned in chapter 3, the same mysterious figure was travelling. He was still weak, so he needed to let his power return. Suddenly, he felt a rush of power appear inside him. "The princess must be feeling angry. Good, I can feed off of her dark emotions to regain power. Let's hope she's allowed to cry".

* * *

Later that night, Elise was preparing to light the torch. She was wearing her fake smile but deep down, she felt upset. Sonic and the others were told they couldn't come earlier. They were disappointed but understood. She also explained that GUN was sending a team to look after her (I bet you know who they are already) which managed to get Sonic relaxed. He knew GUN was tough and if they were sending their best agents, he had nothing to worry about.

So, at the moment, Sonic and co. were at the castle, waiting for Elise to come back. As she spoke the oath, she couldn't help but feel that something bad was going to happen. What's more, the bodyguards weren't here yet. Smit was doing his nut. The festival was nearly over and those agents hadn't arrived. Best agents, he sarcastically thought. He was going to have a word with GUN later.

Back with Elise, she had lit the torch and the crowd was cheering. The fireworks went off, which was the one thing Elise actually liked. They were just so beautiful when they exploded and let out all that light. She then noticed that a few fireworks seemed to be a bit too close. And the reason they were close was because they were missiles headed straight for the city!

As the missiles went off, several robots appeared and began to advance on the crowd. Smit tried to get the princess to safety but they both found themselves surrounded by robots. Elise was scared. Without Sonic, she had lost all her nerve. Then Eggman showed up.

"Princess Elise. Surrender the Chaos Emerald you have and I'll let your citizens go unharmed" he threatened. Elise looked at the crowd. There were children as young as 6. The robots had their guns pointed at them. She had no choice. She had a feeling that the others would be disappointed in her for giving up like this, especially Sonic. She had taken the Emerald for good luck, clearly that was the last thing it brought. She handed the Emerald over and Eggman held it firmly in his grasp. "Thank you. Now, if you'd just like to come with me…" Eggman begun but he needn't have finished. The robots surrounding her began to advance. She was going to be kidnapped.

Before the robots could grab her, gun shots appeared out of nowhere and the robots were destroyed. Elise and Smit then received a shock when another robot appeared. This one was heavily built and had silver claws that retracted to pull out machine guns. It was coloured red and black. "Targets eliminated. Prepare to engage Eggman!" it said, in a robotic tone. Eggman himself was surprised. "Omega! But if he's here…" But he stopped when he realised the Emerald was no longer in his grasp. "Looking for this?" someone said, mockingly.

Eggman, Elise and Smit looked up to see a white bat with white boots and gloves hovering above them with Emerald in hand. Eggman knew her too, "Rouge, give me back my Emerald!" Rouge landed next to Omega and handed the Emerald back to Elise. "Sorry, not yours now" she smiled. Eggman was clearly frustrated. He ordered his other robots to attack but noticed they were already down. The crowd looked about, trying to see who could've done it. They thought it was Sonic until a flash of light appeared in front of Eggman.

When it was gone, standing there was a black hedgehog with hover shoes on and gold rings on his wrists. "Hello, doctor" he said. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" Eggman replied. "This time, I'll win!" He fired another batch of missiles but Omega shot them down. The black hedgehog then sped forward and kicked Eggman up into the air (he's in his Eggmobile). "I'll be back!" were Eggman's last words before disappearing into the distance.

As the crowd left, Elise walked up to her saviours. She realised that they had also been in her dreams. "Who are you?" Smit demanded, as he joined the princess. "I'm Shadow the Hedgehog. This is Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega" Shadow introduced. "We're the agents you hired". Smit was dumbstruck. He asked for the top agents and ended up with two more animals and a robot. Elise on the other hand was grateful for being rescued but Smit wouldn't take it. "You were supposed to be here earlier!" he shouted. "Yeah, sorry but we ran into a problem" Rouge apologized. "What problem?" asked Smit. He got the answer when he heard a voice.

"Hey, Shad! Using Chaos Control was not in the rules" Sonic cried. "You never said" Shadow replied. "Anyway, I won so you owe me!" Elise was confused so Rouge filled her in. "Sonic and Shadow have a bit of a rivalry. They ran into each other and had a race, but Omega reminded us about the job so Shadow teleported us here". Smit, upon hearing this, fainted again.

Back at the castle, Sonic and Elise brought the GUN agents back. There was a bit of a reunion, seeing as how Sonic and co. were companions of Shadow and the others. After explaining what happened, Elise handed the Emerald back to Sonic. "I gave it up to Eggman, as you may have heard. I don't think I should have it". To her surprise, Sonic shook his head and said "You gave it up to protect your citizens. Shows you care about others". "So, you're not disappointed in me?" she asked. Sonic laughed, "Why would I? You're a kind and caring person. Hang on to it".

So, Elise was happier than ever. Three new friends had entered the mix and Sonic was proud of her. Surely life could not get worse from here. How wrong she was. It won't happen tomorrow or maybe for several months but sooner or later, things were going to go beyond worse.


	6. Chapter 6

**As soon as this chapter and the next one are done, I'll stop introducing characters until I reach the middle of the story. Anyways, enjoy!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 6: Returning Part 1: A Scorching Day

Since Smit hired Shadow's crew to protect Elise, they were also hanging out in the castle. Shadow shared rooms with Omega while Rouge got her own room. She said a girl needed her privacy. Elise didn't mind the fact that more and more people were staying there. She was glad for the company.

Smit on the other hand, wasn't enjoying it. He swore that if one more turns up, he'll go crazy. Little did he know that one more would turn up.

It was a hot day in Soleanna, so people were going down to Wave Ocean to get as much of the sun as they could. Sonic, Amy, Cream and Elise had decided to go as well. Although they had to drag Sonic. He was still scared of water. Amy and Cream were wearing swimsuits while Elise wore a white bikini that grabbed many onlookers. None of them dared approach though while Sonic was there. Since he closely knew the princess, they didn't want to receive a beating from him. If only they knew that Sonic was one of the many lookers. He tried his best to avert his gaze but kept looking back. He was lucky Elise had her eyes closed as she sunbathed. He was also lucky that Amy hadn't caught him looking either.

As Sonic ran up and down the beach, Amy swam in the ocean and Cream was building a sandcastle. "It looks really good, doesn't it Cheese?" she asked her Chao companion. Cheese replied with his usual 'Chao, chao' but he had a happy smile on so it was obvious he agreed.

Sonic was running down the beach as fast as he could. He remembered the last time he came here and was chasing the Egg Carrier. Right now though, he was chasing something else. A boat had appeared out of nowhere on the sea and was sailing off. Sonic was suspicious so he chased after it. He obviously managed to keep up with the boat but it was too far off so he couldn't see who was sailing it. As he was running, he noticed something else in the water. He could only see the top of it but it looked like a robot. It was heading for where Elise and the others were. The boat thing could wait. He had to stop Eggman.

Back with the girls, Amy had just got out of the water and was drying herself. She sat down next to Elise and noticed some men sneaking glances. "A lot of people sure are interested in you" she said to Elise. The princess opened her eyes and sighed. "They're always looking at me. They don't seem to understand that I'm just as human and ordinary as they are". "So, you're not interested in anyone?" asked Amy. Elise thought about this. She didn't really have her eye on anyone except for Sonic. She remembered what Smit said. "It's not like you have feelings for him!" He was talking about Sonic and that statement struck her hard. Amy noticed Elise's pause and decided not to ask anymore.

She looked around, expecting to see a dash of blue but instead noticed the water ripple. This made her suspicious and she was right to be. Out of the water burst a pink robotic whale (like the Ghost Whale in Sonic Rush Adventure). Everyone on the beach ran screaming but the others stayed behind. Eggman appeared floating next to his latest robot. "How do you like this?" declared Eggman. "This time, Sonic won't stand a chance!" Amy was slightly peeved that Eggman chose now to attack. The heat was probably making her grouchy but she whipped out her hammer and threw it at the whale. It simply bounced off.

"Hahaha!" chortled Eggman. "You don't stand a chance!" Cream decided to have a go and rolled Cheese into a ball and threw him with surprising speed and force. Elise was shocked to see a girl as young as her throw something that hard. Unfortunately, it was all in vain. Cheese was knocked back and Cream had to catch him. Eggman was enjoying this. "Now, let's cool things down". Upon his words, the whale began to eject clod air into the ocean, causing the area around it to freeze but leaving it enough room to move about.

Sonic had finally turned up and witnessed the water freezing. "Hey, Eggy! Don't be mean to girls!" he mocked and he jumped onto the ice and prepared to fight. Elise was confident in Sonic winning but noticed Eggman smiling and looked once more at the ice. Something clicked in her head. "Sonic, you have no grip on the ice!" Sonic had heard her scream but turned back to notice the whale about to shoot a jet of water out of its mouth. Sonic tried to run but the ice was so slippery, he couldn't run. He slipped over and managed to roll out of the way before the water hit. With no way of movement, Sonic was a sitting duck. "I've got you now, Sonic!" exclaimed Eggman. "Now, why don't you just chill?" The whale began to exhale frosty air and Sonic was beginning to freeze. First his legs and then his body. He was being turned into an icicle! It wasn't long until only his head remained. "Now, hedgehog. This is the end!" The whale began to lift its body and was prepared to crush Sonic. Elise covered Cream's eyes and looked away herself. She couldn't bear to see her hero killed.

Just as the whale was about to drop, a fireball hit it in the head, causing it to fall on its side. Eggman turned to see the same boat that Sonic saw. Eggman was infuriated that that excuse for a ship stopped him from being finally rid of his nemesis. He fired a missile out of his Eggmobile that hit the boat dead on and blew it up. He smirked with delight but something jumped off the flaming wreckage and kicked Eggman, sending his mobile flying into the distance. The figure landed in front of Sonic and he was shocked at who he saw. The girls looked to and were all astonished, especially Cream. It was a lavender cat with high heels, a purple robe and a red stone in her forehead. She was Blaze the Cat!

She turned and began to melt the icicle that Sonic was trapped in. After it was completely gone, Sonic asked "How the heck did you get here?" "I'll explain later" she said. She turned back to the whale that had managed to get back up. Since she could control fire, she had no trouble in moving on the ice. The whale tried to shoot another jet of water but at that moment, Blaze jumped to avoid the water and threw another fireball into the whale's mouth. The result was an explosion that took out the ice.

Blaze managed to land on the beach but Sonic fell into the water. He began to panic and splash about until he realised that he was on the coast and the water was knee deep. He stood up embarrassed and walked up to Blaze. "Thanks, I owe you". Blaze shrugged and said "It was nothing". Her face turned serious and faced Cream. Tears were streaming from the young rabbit's eyes. She then ran up to her old friend and proceeded to hug her. "Oh Blaze! I'm so glad to see you again!" she wailed. Blaze returned the hug and replied "It's great to see you to". After Cream had calmed down, Blaze said hello to Amy and Elise. Elise couldn't help but feel she'd seen Blaze in her dreams as well.

They returned to the castle and Blaze met Tails and Knuckles again and was introduced to Shadow, Rouge and Omega. "So Blaze. How'd you come back?" asked Tails. Blaze smiled as she answered, "Using the Sol Emeralds. Since they have a connection to the Chaos Emeralds, I was able to use my emeralds to sort of make a bridge between our worlds using that boat". "But the boat was destroyed. How are you going to get back?" asked Amy. "I'm not. Eggman Nega has finally been arrested and since the Sol Emeralds no longer need protecting, I thought I'd come here to get some excitement" she responded. Cream yelped with delight realising that her old friend was staying for good. Blaze explained that they've got a new ruler who should be able to look after the land so there was no need to worry about what became of her world. Suddenly Tails remembered something. "Oh yeah. Speaking of excitement, me and Shadow found something weird" he said. Everyone followed him to the basement where he had set up a lab, with Elise's permission of course.

There seemed to be something flickering in the centre of the room. "We think something's trying to get through, like some holographic message or something" stated Shadow. "And what's weird is that we've traced the message. It's coming from the future" he continued. Everyone stood there in shock. "How do we know what it says?" asked Rouge. "We'll need two Chaos Emeralds to power the machine to make it clear" Tails explained, "But we've only got one". Blaze smirked and pulled out something, the red Chaos Emerald!

"I found it at Wave Ocean" she explained. Using the two Emeralds, the hologram began to fuzz and then became clear. The hologram depicted a white hedgehog with arching quills. He was looking around the room, almost as if he was looking for something. His eyes then set on one figure in the room.

"Blaze!"

And suddenly, it flickered and vanished. Blaze looked as if she had seen a ghost. But she wasn't the only one. Elise had seen that hedgehog in her dreams and Sonic knew him. The figure they had just seen was Silver the Hedgehog!


	7. Chapter 7

**R&R. No flames. I also might have given away the figure's identity at the end if you didn't get it by the end of Chapter 3. Enjoy anyway**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 7: Returning Part 2: Silver Steps Up

In the space of a few hours, Sonic and co. were reunited with old friend Blaze the Cat, who Elise recognized from her dreams, and had received a message from the future. The sender was someone who only Sonic and Blaze knew (they didn't know Sonic knew) and who Elise also recognized from her dreams.

Blaze had turned as white as a sheet. Cream looked extremely worried about her friend. "Blaze, who was that?" she asked. Blaze returned to the real world and faced the others. "I suppose I'd better explain" she began. "You see, when I was five, my parents told me I had to protect the Sol Emeralds, that it was my duty. I didn't want this job. I just wanted a normal life". Elise nodded. She knew how Blaze felt.

"Anyway, I was somehow able to utilize the emeralds' powers and used something similar to Chaos Control. I ended up in this world but in the future, around 200 years" Blaze continued. The others were shocked that Blaze had been to the future. "While there, I tried to make friends but they called me a freak because of my pyrokinetic abilities. I was in an unknown world with no friends and family. I was forced to steal food and had to live in a back alley". Everyone began to feel sorry for her. They knew Blaze had it rough but not this rough.

"Then, as I was walking about town, a group of kids came out of nowhere and began to chase me. I ran but reached a dead end. I was cornered. The kids threw their stones and I closed my eyes, awaiting the pain but it never came. I opened them and realised that the stones were floating in midair. Then that white hedgehog appeared and threw them back. The kids ran, completely terrified. My hero turned back to me and asked if I was alright. He introduced himself as Silver. He asked why they were picking on me and I explained my story, the whole thing. I had a feeling he would just leave or not even believe what I said. But he did. He asked if I'd like to stay with him and I agreed. So, I spent the next 10 years living with Silver. We became the best of friends and I was no longer picked on. Silver seemed to have a reputation". She chuckled as the memories came back.

"But, how did you end up back in your world?" Knuckles asked. "Well, my parents realised what I'd done and were able to use the emeralds to find me. For me it had been 10 years but to them, it was like a couple of hours. I was walking with Silver when the portal appeared. An arm came rushing out and dragged me back in. Silver tried to rescue me but was unsuccessful. My parents, though surprised by how much I changed, punished me and I was forced to protect the emeralds. I suppose that's how I became bitter to the world. Anyway, I'm here now and I'm not going back. The emeralds are safe and that new ruler is doing fine" she finished.

Sonic and the others were amazed that Blaze's life contained more than they thought. They didn't ask anymore questions concerning Silver and let Blaze join them in fighting Eggman.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the distant future, Silver's message had been just cut off. "NO!" he cried. He started banging on the computer, trying to get it working again. "I've found her and lost her at the same time!" he yelled in despair. "Then go after her".

Silver wasn't alone. The other figure was shrouded in darkness but Silver knew who he was. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Blaze is in the past. I can send you there with my powers" his accomplice explained. "OK. By the way, who were those other people?" asked Silver. "They are the ones who took her from you the first time. Led by that blue hedgehog, they managed to open up a portal to the future and kidnapped her. They plan on using her as a weapon of destruction, seeing as she has power over fire" the figure told the hedgehog. Silver became very angry. How dare they use his best friend like that! "Send me back. I'm going to find her and rescue her. I'll kill that hedgehog too!" he said in anger. The figure sounded pleased. "Very well. Let's get going" and with those words, he created a purple sphere that swallowed them both.

* * *

Tails was busy analyzing the Master Emerald, hoping he could make a radar with a wider range. The two emeralds they had helped but it was going to take some time. The others, with noting to do, lazed around the castle. Elise broke the silence. "Blaze, how'd you like me to show you round Soleanna. It's a beautiful place and I'm sure you'd be interested". Blaze nodded. "I'll come too" Sonic said. "I need to do something!" Shadow spoke up. "Since we have a job to do, Omega will go too" The robot walked up. "I'll protect the princess and do harm to anyone who threatens her" he mechanically said. Cream also decided to go. She wanted to be with Blaze some more.

They left the castle and headed for the city itself. They managed to leave before Amy found out that Sonic had left without her. They explored and showed Blaze the sights. The fact that Omega was around helped. Not many people wanted to get anywhere near a hulking robot that could fire missiles and bullets.

* * *

Elsewhere, Silver had jumped out of the purple portal. Looking around he realised he was in a forest. He could make out the city in the distance. "Blaze must be there" he said to himself. He looked around for a bit longer. He'd never seen a forest before. He lived far in the city so he was amazed to see all this greenery. He finally snapped back to reality and rushed off to the city.

* * *

Sonic and the others had returned to the castle town and were on their way to the plaza. Cream had an ice cream, vanilla flavoured, which she shared with Cheese. Blaze was getting hungry so they decided to find somewhere to eat. Elise remembered the café she'd been to when Nic was with her, so they suggested they go there. Sonic didn't fancy going, he had filled himself up with hot dogs that he found going cheap at a vendor. Omega was going to join them but Elise told him she didn't need protecting in a café. There was also the fact that the place would become empty if Omega walked in. Besides, she had Blaze, who was a tough fighter and could easily look after her.

So, the males (or male and robot) waited in the plaza. "How long do you think the girls'll be?" Sonic asked. "Estimated time: 1 hour at best" the robot replied. Sonic sat down, completely bored once more. He almost drifted off to sleep when Omega started to make a warning sound. "Incoming projectile! Evasive action required!" "You could just say dodge!" yelled Sonic as he jumped out of the way of what looked like a ball of green energy.

"There you are!" a voice cried from above. The two heroes looked up and saw Silver. "You, blue hedgehog! Return her immediately!" he pointed at Sonic. "Who are you talking about?" he asked. Silver became angry. "Fine. You want to play dumb; I'll just have to destroy you!" Sonic was taken aback. Last time Silver tried to kill him was because he thought Sonic was responsible for the ruined future but time was rectified, wasn't it? Then it hit him. Silver must believe that he kidnapped Blaze! He was about to try to convince Silver that he didn't steal her away but Omega had already loaded his guns. "Omega, don't!" But Sonic's cry was in vain. Omega began to open fire.

Silver saw it coming and made a shield to protect himself. "That's honestly the best you got?" he mocked. Omega retracted his guns and fired a missile. Silver smirked as he held up his hand and stopped it dead in its tracks. He spun it around and threw it back at Omega. The robot was too slow and was knocked out by the missile. Sonic turned to face Silver. "Without your drone, you have to fight me yourself!" declared Silver. Sonic clenched his teeth. Even though Silver didn't know it, he was a good friend of Sonic. He didn't want to fight him. Plus, Silver was deadly. With is psychic powers, Sonic had to keep his distance. The only reasons he survived him was because Amy and Shadow had saved him on two separate occasions.

Silver picked up a few tables and threw them at the blue hero. Sonic ran and began to circle Silver. The psychic tried to throw projectiles at him but Sonic was moving too fast. "Stand still and die!" he yelled. "Silver, you don't understand. I didn't kidnap Blaze! If you stop fighting me, I'll take you to her!" he tried to reason but Silver kept on attacking. "How do you know my name? You must have interrogated Blaze and now you're trying to trick me!"

Silver then focused his power on Sonic himself and held him in place. Unable to move, Sonic couldn't do anything. Silver drew his hand back. "Time for me to end this!" He was about to finish Sonic off when he was hit in the face by something. It turned out to be Cheese, who Cream had just thrown. "You leave Mr. Sonic alone!" she yelled angrily. Silver was annoyed that his chances were blown and simply pushed her aside with a sweep of his hand. "Now back to business" he turned back to Sonic, who had collapsed as Silver released him when he focused on Cream. Silver walked up to him, who was regaining his breath, Silver had cut off his air supply when he froze him. Silver was about to deal the final blow when he saw a fireball drop out of the sky. He jumped back before it hit him. It exploded on the floor, causing Silver's vision to be blocked by smoke.

"Who dares try to stop me now?" he demanded. The answer he received was unexpected. "Me, Silver. Blaze the Cat!" The smoke cleared and standing there was Blaze. Silver just stared. When he finally realised that this was no dream, he rushed up and gave Silver a great, big hug. Blaze returned it, being just as glad to have her old friend back.

Blaze explained that her parents took her away to her own world and that Sonic and the others were her friends. Silver apologised to Sonic and Cream (Omega had shut down) and the group, joined by Elise who had arrived with Blaze, returned to the castle. There, Silver was introduced to the others and he was asked to help them fight Eggman, after explaining what they had to do. Silver nodded in agreement. After Blaze said she was staying in the present, Silver decided to stay as well. Sonic smirked, knowing that Silver liked Blaze more than as a friend. Blaze asked Silver how he was able to get in contact with them from the future. He then began to think. "Well, this guy showed up and told me that he could help me find you. He told me what to do with getting the machine working. He also told me that Sonic was responsible for your kidnapping". The others looked stunned. "What did he look like?" asked Rouge. "Was he fat and did he have a moustache?" questioned Amy. "No, he looked a lot like him" he said, while pointing at Shadow. As soon as Sonic saw who Silver was pointing at, he became petrified. Him. He couldn't be coming back! That was impossible, Sonic thought.

* * *

As he was thinking this, someone was watching them. The same person Silver met. "Looks like that plan backfired. Oh well. I had a feeling it wouldn't succeed but now Sonic's suspicious but once I regain all of my power, I'll reveal myself. Then, the prophecy will be fulfilled!"


	8. Chapter 8

**R&R! By the way, the gorilla robot is from Sonic X, just in case it sounded familiar.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 8: Wildlife Preservers

Silver was still getting accustomed to living in the present. He'd been helping Sonic and co. fighting Eggman. Having a psychic on the team had its share of advantages. However, Silver didn't feel as if he helped enough. He wanted to make it up to the heroes for attacking them, so in order to finally get him to shut up; he was sent along with Tails and Rouge into Tropical Jungle. Their radar had found an emerald somewhere within the deep forestry.

Being able to fly, the three had a bird's eye view of the jungle but were having difficulty looking through the trees, so they landed and decided to walk the rest of the way. As Tails kept looking at his portable radar, Silver and Rouge were scanning the area. Silver was amazed, having never seen so much plant life before, but there was something telling him that he'd been here before. "Hey, Rouge" he turned to the bat. "Have you ever been here before?" "No, but I feel like I have" she said, thoughtfully. So, Silver wasn't the only one feeling it. He was about to say something when Tails called out to them. "Guys, look at this!"

Silver and Rouge ran up next to him and were flabbergasted at what they saw. A bunch of Eggman's robots were cutting the trees down and turning them into sawdust. Silver became outraged. "How dare they do this to the jungle?" he cried in anger. "We've got to stop them" Tails said. But Rouge pulled him back. "Why is Eggman cutting the place down? I doubt he's doing it for fun. If he was, there'd be less robots but the place is swarming with them" she explained.

The others looked and saw that Rouge was right. The entire place was filled with not just the logger robots but even the white mechs and big ones with hammers. Tails reached the conclusion. "Eggman must know about the Chaos Emerald here" he stated. "Then we better find it before they do" Silver said. Tails looked at his radar and looked at the bleeping circle on the screen. "According to this, the emerald is on the other side of the swamp, but the only way there is by going through the robots" he said. Silver looked. No way was he going up against all of those. Rouge then reminded them something. "We can fly, right?"

As the robots were tending to their destruction, they were unaware of the three heroes floating above them. Tails kept his eye on the radar and noticed the bleeping becoming much faster. "We're getting closer" he said but Rouge, with her keen eye, had spotted it already. "I got it!" she cried and dove for the emerald. As she got closer, she noticed it was the green emerald. It blended in with the grass but Rouge noticed the sparkle it gave off. She landed and picked it up. The other two landed beside her. "Come on, Rouge. Let's get that emerald out of here!" said Tails but Rouge was still entranced with the emerald. "Is she always like this?" Silver asked. Tails nodded, "Pretty much".

As Tails tried bringing Rouge back to earth, Silver turned back to the robots. The carnage they were doing was making Silver sick. He wasn't about to let these things ruin the jungle, but he couldn't take them all on. He then noticed a log suspended in mid-air. A smirk similar to Sonic's spread across his face.

Rouge finally managed to return to reality. "OK, Silver. We're ready to go" said Tails but he got no reply. Turning, he noticed that the white hedgehog wasn't there. "Where's Silver?" he asked. Out of nowhere, Silver, using his psychic powers, had catapulted the log into the robots which were conveniently huddled together. Some managed to get out of the way, but most of them, including all the big ones, were destroyed. "I think that answers your question" Rouge said to the fox, who stood there gaping.

Silver jumped off the log, looking pleased with himself. He hadn't taken them all out but had managed to destroy the big ones and the loggers. The robots who did survive fired their missiles but Silver performed the same trick with Omega and picked them up with his powers and threw them back. The robots were nothing but scrap now. Tails and Rouge ran up to him. "What did you do that for?" demanded Tails. "I'm sorry. But I couldn't just let these things destroy the jungle" Silver defended. Rouge shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We've got the emerald" she stated.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Trees began to fall down and soon, a huge robot had appeared. It looked an awful lot like a gorilla. That's when the three heard a familiar voice. "Hand me the Chaos Emerald and I'll spare this forest and your lives!" cried Eggman. Silver stood up to him. "We'll never give in. I'll destroy that heap of trash!" Eggman sighed, "Very well. E-65, destroy them and get me that Chaos Emerald!"

The robot lifted its fists and slammed them into the ground. Tails and Rouge flew off while Silver jumped. Landing on top of one of the fists, he began to run up it. Now, if it was Sonic or Shadow, they would've got up there no problem. But Silver was slower and the robot reached up and flicked him off. Silver was knocked back but Tails managed to catch him. The robot opened its chest and fired a barrage of missiles at them which Silver sent back. But this time, the missiles did nothing. The armour must have been reinforced. Suddenly, the huge machine made a lunge for the two. Tails swerved them out of the way but was finding it difficult to fly fast with the extra weight. The robot was about to make another lunge when Rouge spun in the air and did her Screw Kick into the head. This seemed to do something, since the robot reeled back. "Don't mess with me, darling" Rouge smirked cheekily. She was caught of guard when the robot grabbed her and began to crush her in its fist. Realising their friend was in danger, Tails dropped Silver on top of the robot's head. Silver placed his palm on top and sent a shockwave through the robot. Sparks began to fly off and soon, the robot blew up.

The explosion knocked Silver off of the robot's head but Rouge, who was released from the robot's grip, was there to catch him. She set him down and Tails met up with them. "Nice job, Silver" Tails said, happily. "It was nothing" Silver replied, blushing slightly. They then heard Eggman's voice. "Well, my robot may have been destroyed, but at least I got this" and in his hand was the emerald Rouge had. "How did…" Rouge trailed off, when Eggman interrupted her. "When Silver fell off the robot, you caught him, but that meant you let go of the emerald. Rouge turned red. How could she let herself drop the emerald? "Until next time!" chortled Eggman, as he flew off. Rouge frowned. "I can't believe I mucked up". Silver shook his head. "No, I shouldn't have just jumped into the action. We should've made sure the emerald was safe first". Tails walked up to them. "Hey, guys. It doesn't matter. There's still 4 emeralds left and I'm sure we'll get them and the one Eggman took". Silver and Rouge cheered up and began their trip back to the castle.


	9. Chapter 9

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 9: Lightning Strike

It was raining in Soleanna. The forecast said there was a torrential downpour and wouldn't clear up for several weeks. This was actually a good thing for Sonic and co. In his hidden base, Eggman was watching the forecast explaining how long the storm would last.

"Drats! I can't send my robots out in this weather. They'll malfunction. Guess I'll have to wait for it to stop before I can get anymore emeralds". Suddenly, he heard a banging sound. Swiftly turning in his chair, Eggman pressed a button which activated a loudspeaker. "Attention commandbot, (god that's awful, why did I write that!) what's going on?" the doctor demanded. "There is an intruder, sir!" the leader robot replied"And it appears to be heading straight for you!" "WHAT!!"

Then, the door leading to Eggman's room blew up and a figure jumped in. The doctor was surprised at who he saw. "Sonic, how did you know how to get to my base?" He received an answer he wasn't expecting. "Who's Sonic?"

* * *

The scene changes to the castle. The whole team was cooped up inside. They couldn't leave to look for Chaos Emeralds with the storm going on. It wasn't long until a certain someone got bored. "When will this storm clear up?" moaned Sonic. "For the 36th time, WE DON'T KNOW!" a very irritated Shadow replied. "Now just shut up and do something to keep yourself entertained. Everyone else is". Sonic sulked. He hated doing nothing. He wished he could do something other than just sit.

All of a sudden, a huge clap of thunder erupted in the sky. Cream and Elise, who were sitting nearby, jumped at the sound and Cream held onto Elise for comfort. "What was that, Miss Elise?" the nervous rabbit asked. "I think it was just lightning" Elise replied, trying to keep herself calm. She hated thunderstorms. Then, there was a knock at the door which got everyone in the room's attention. "Who could that be?" Smit wondered as he walked to the door. He had just arrived from upstairs, making sure all was well. He still didn't like Sonic and friends.

He opened the door and standing there was someone around Sonic's height wearing a black cloak that covered his face. "Excuse me, what do you want?" Smit asked, with a sense of dislike in his voice. He thought this guy might be a beggar. "Is there someone there?" asked Elise. "Yes, your highness". "Well, let him in".

Smit stepped aside for the figure to enter. Sonic and the others came to see who it was. "Please take that wet cloak off. It's dripping" Smit said (smarmy git). The figure reached for his cloak and through it off. The figure was revealed to be a yellow hedgehog, with his quills in the same style as Shadow's. He had black high-lights in his quills and wore red sneakers like Sonic. "Who are you?" asked Shadow. "I'm Strike. Strike the Hedgehog. And I'm here for the Chaos Emeralds".

Strike threw his hand out and a burst of lightning fired from it. Shadow dodged the attack and turned to Smit. "Get the princess and Cream to safety!" Smit took no time to hesitate and dragged the two elsewhere. Sonic and Shadow prepared to stare the yellow hedgehog down. Strike formed a group of lightning bolts and threw them at the other two hogs. Using their speed, Sonic and Shadow dodged them effortlessly. "Too slow" Sonic mocked and dove in for a punch. He was taken by surprise when Strike disappeared and reappeared behind him and kicked the blue hero into the wall. He's just as fast as us, Shadow thought. While Strike advanced towards Sonic, Shadow formed a Chaos Spear and threw it. Strike must've sensed it coming because he turned back around and formed a shield made of electricity to stop the attack. Then, he put the shield down and fired lightning from his fingers that grabbed hold of Shadow and began to electrocute him. "So much for the ultimate life-form" he smirked.

Just as he was about to finish him off, Sonic recovered and did his Homing Attack which got Strike on the back of his head, knocking him over. Sonic ran to Shadow. He had suffered several burns and couldn't move. Sonic turned back to face Strike. "You're tough, I've gotta admit" he said. "But I'm ending this now!" Sonic began spinning in place and shot out at Strike. The yellow hedgehog stood there smirking. He reeled his foot back and kicked Sonic like a football. He went flying all over the place, bouncing off the walls, ceiling and floor before eventually crashing into the ground. "Now, tell me where the emeralds are, otherwise I'll kill you" Strike threatened. Before Sonic could say anything, Strike was hit by something. Turning, he found Elise had just thrown a bucket of water all over him. "You arrogant girl. You'll pay for that!" Strike snarled, building up electricity in his hands. He was surprised that Elise was actually smiling. What surprised him even more was when he fired the electricity; he began to get electrocuted himself. He managed to stop the attack but he'd hurt himself so badly, he collapsed.

* * *

Sonic and Shadow were resting up. They had taken a lot of damage. Shadow was unconscious but Sonic was awake. Elise was next to him. "That was amazing what you did back there" Sonic said. "It was nothing. I just thought that since water conducts electricity, if Strike was covered in it, he'd hurt himself" she explained. On another bed, next to Shadow's, was Strike. He was lying there, staring at the ceiling. In his hand was what looked like a communicator. He looked at it, and then crushed it in his hand. Earlier, upon waking up, he was asked why he was trying to steal the emeralds. Since he had been captured and was defenceless, (he was still wet) he blabbed.

"Eggman sent me. I had gone to see him to get some information. He was the only person who I could think of who might know what I was looking for. I broke into his base and found him. I told him what I wanted and he said that I'd get it if I gave him the emeralds that were here". After telling them this, he knew Eggman would never give him the info now. Sonic looked over to Strike. "What was that info you were looking for?" he asked. "I was searching for my brother. I knew nothing about him. Not even his name. Eggman seemed like the only person who might know something. I knew that stealing the emeralds for him was wrong but…" he drifted off. "Sorry about that" Sonic apologized.

* * *

The next day, Strike prepared to leave. "Sorry about yesterday. Before I go, here's something for ya". He handed Sonic the yellow Chaos Emerald. "Thanks. Hope you find your brother. Remember, you've got friends here". Strike was taken aback at being called a friend but smiled. The two hogs shook hands and Strike turned to leave. It was still raining but Strike didn't mind. He liked storms. Wherever you are bro, I will find you, Strike thought to himself. Making one last look at the castle where his new friend lived, he turned to continue his journey.


	10. Chapter 10

**This chapter is all about the girls. Hope you enjoy it!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 10: Girls Day Out

After Strike left, Sonic managed to convince the others that he was an ally and showed them the Chaos Emerald he gave them as proof. The team decided to accept Strike and, if they saw him again, let him know they forgave him. Shadow was still out of action and Sonic wasn't exactly up to scratch. With these two being unable to go anywhere, Amy volunteered to look for another emerald. So it was agreed.

Amy and Cream decided to check out the New City. They happened to be accompanied by Elise, Rouge and Blaze. Elise wanted to help find an Emerald and since Team Dark were hired to protect her, Rouge was the only one available (Omega still had problems with his legs). Blaze came along because she was getting bored and wanted to spend some time with Cream. So, it was all girls today.

Amy was attempting (and failing) to use Tails' emerald tracker. With no idea on how to use it, she gave up. "Boy, pinky. Not very smart, are you?" Rouge mocked. Amy turned around looking very peeved. "OK, then. You try using it?" she growled as she tossed the tracker to Rouge. The bat took one look at the tracker. "There's no emerald here" she said, bluntly. "What?" Amy asked. "We've been walking all over the place and have been looking for something that isn't there?" Rouge nodded. "In a nutshell, yes". Amy looked disheartened. She was hoping that if she found an emerald, Sonic might realise she wasn't completely helpless and maybe take her in his arms and…

"Uh, what's she doing?" Blaze asked. Amy was swaying all over the place with here eyes closed with a dreamy smile on her face. "She's daydreaming about Sonic again" Cream explained. Elise was trying to suppress her laughter. She couldn't help but find it funny. She guessed that Sonic had this effect on people. Herself included. She had to admit, Sonic was certainly dreamy. He's kind, always there for you, he's kind of cute…Wait, WHAT! Did she just think that? As she tried to shake the thought out of her head, she heard low rumble. The rumble began to get louder. Whatever was causing it was getting close.

Suddenly, a huge drill came crashing out of the ground, causing several bystanders to start running in terror. The drill pushed up a bit further until it revealed to the nose of a light brown mole-like robot. In the head of the robot was the doctor himself. "Well, what do we have here? Some insects to squash I see?" Eggman said. "Eggman! How dare you interrupt my fantasy?" Amy screamed pulling out her hammer and charging full speed at the robot. She began to pummel the body but it was having no effect. "Don't bother. This robot has been reinforced with titanium plating. Too bad you didn't bring Knucklehead with you" he explained. Then, the robot bended its head so the drill was facing straight down on Amy. The drill began to spin and headed straight for her. Thankfully, Rouge swooped in and managed to grab Amy before the drill made contact.

Blaze decided to step up to the plate. She ignited her hands and proceeded to swipe at the armour in hopes of melting it. This didn't work either and she jumped back before a giant hand flattened her. The robot now had to floating hands next to it. "Not so tough now, are you?" Eggman mocked. "Now, face my ultimate weapon. I was saving it for Sonic but he'll have to wait". The robot then put its hands together leaving a space for a circle. Then, a sphere of purple energy formed in the space, gradually getting bigger. It was soon as big as the robot. Eggman then made the robot throw it straight down. It went into the ground and purple electricity covered the whole ground. Cream pulled Elise out of harms way but the others weren't so lucky. They were hit by the electricity but they weren't hurt. They just couldn't move. "A-ha! My weapon works! That Chaos Emerald was definitely a big help!"

Upon hearing Eggman, Elise came up with an idea. If Eggman's using an emerald, he's probably got it with him, she thought. She also noticed that the armour wasn't covering the head. "Cream! Can you do anything that'll do damage to the head?" Cream nodded and understood Elise's plan. She flew them straight for Eggman. The doctor failed to notice them because he was still mocking the others. Once they were flying above the head, Cream called for Cheese, who popped out of nowhere (I always seem to forget him). Now came the tricky part. Cream had to hold Elise up with one hand so she could hold Cheese. While she tried this, Elise began to slip. Cream tried to keep her hold.

Meanwhile, Eggman was preparing another sphere of energy, this one intended on actually hurting the girls. While doing said charging, he realised something. "Where are the rabbit and the princess?"

Cream lost her grip and dropped Elise on top of the robot. Her landing made a clunk that got Eggman's attention. "What was that?" he asked, while dismissing the attack. Cream didn't hesitate and threw Cheese with surprising force. He shattered through the head, missing Eggman, and all the way to the bottom. He then flew back to Cream as she was picking Elise up and flying them out of there. Eggman did the same. "Curse you!" he cried as he flew off, leaving his robot to blow up. Amy and the others had managed to regain their movement. "Nice one, Cream. You sure showed him whose boss" congratulated Blaze. "Well, Elise came up with the plan" Cream explained. Elise blushed. She tried explaining that they didn't have to thank her when Cream remembered something. "What happened to the Chaos Emerald?"

As if to answer her question, the purple emerald fell out of the sky and landed in Elise's hands. "Come on. Let's get this back to the castle" she said. The others agreed and left for the castle, before they could get charged for the damages.


	11. Chapter 11

**Epic ending. R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 11: Sonic's Gamble

It was another pleasant day in Soleanna and Sonic and co. had agreed to spend a day out. They were enjoying themselves until sometime at a restaurant. Several things occurred there.

When they sat down, Sonic found himself squeezed in between Amy and Elise. Thankfully, no one noticed him sweating nervously. Next to Amy was Cream then Tails. Opposite to Tails was Rouge who was next to Shadow then Silver and Blaze. Knuckles sat at the end of the table on Tails' side while Omega sat opposite. Omega was the only one who wasn't eating. He'd plugged himself into a nearby socket and was draining electricity. Lots of other people in the restaurant were wandering why the lights kept flicking on and off. Sonic had ordered chilli dogs and was surprised that Elise had ordered the same. "I didn't know you liked chilli dogs" he said. "Oh yeah. I've loved them since I was little" Elise replied, before taking another mouthful of her dog. Pretty soon, Sonic and Elise had wound up feeding each other, attracting several looks from the rest of the table. "Sheesh, Sonic. Stop acting like she needs to be fed" Knuckles said. "I think it makes them look like they're on a date" Cream said. Everyone on the table laughed, except for Sonic and Elise who began to stop feeding each other. Sonic still didn't know if Elise was in love with him and Elise was still trying to hide the fact she was in love with him. She didn't even admit it to herself.

On a nearby table, a figure was watching Sonic and Elise. He was also with two women who kept touching him. The way they were dressed would make you think they came from the Playboy mansion. They weren't wearing bunny ears though. One of them, having overheard the conversation, whispered "Hedgehog and a human? That's sick!" Rouge, with her acute hearing, had heard the woman and turned sharply. "Rouge, what is it?" asked Shadow. "I thought I heard something" she responded. "Must be going deaf, bat!" the second girl yelled. Rouge stood up, "Do you want to say that to my face!" Shadow stood up as well to make sure Rouge didn't do something stupid. "Rouge, don't respond. Just ignore them" he said. "You should listen to your boyfriend! Besides, you wouldn't dare touch us with our boyfriend around" the first one said. Shadow was the one to turn around now. "I'm not her boyfriend! And how did you even manage to get one between you? Couldn't afford two?"

Sonic decided to end the feud there and then. "Look, we don't want any trouble. We just came here to eat. So, if we just sit down and not argue, maybe we can enjoy ourselves". "Running away again, hedgehog? Just like at the race" the figure mocked. Sonic turned to face him and was shocked by who it was. It was none other than Sam Nic!

"Long time, no see!" Nic sneered. "I see you've moved in on my property along with your freaks for friends!" This got Sonic riled up. He knew what Nic meant. "Elise isn't your property! She doesn't belong to anyone!" he snarled. Nic stood up and went up to Sonic. "Well, we'll see about that won't we?" Nic said. "I challenge you to a race around the city. No chickening out" he smirked. "I never give up!" declared Sonic.

* * *

Later, Sonic and Nic had agreed to start outside the restaurant, go all round the city and make it to the plaza. Silver held the chequered flag. Before they took their places, Sonic said "What makes you think you'll win? All you have are some roller-skates and two cheerleaders. I could've easily won last time". "Well, there's a slight change here". Nic smiled an evil grin as he pulled out the light-blue Chaos Emerald. "I've learned how to harness its powers and with this, I'll thrash you!"

Sonic stared at the emerald in awe. "Nic. Let's mix things up shall we? If I win, I get your emerald" Sonic dared. Nic shrugged. "Alright. But what if I win?" he sneered. "Name your price". The worst three words Sonic could've said. "If I win, I get Elise and your Chaos Emeralds!" Elise gasped and Sonic stood there speechless. Was he really going to let his friend be used as a trophy? "No deal, Nic!" he said. Nic snarled. "Fine. Have it your way" and with a snap of his fingers, the emerald began to glow. Suddenly, Elise found herself trapped in a block of ice. She couldn't move. Sonic ran up to her. He started banging on the ice, trying to break it. Knuckles ran up and began punching the ice, but it did nothing. "Nic, let her go!" Sonic yelled. "Fine. On one condition. You agree to my terms" he smirked. Sonic snarled. He had no choice.

The two speedsters took their places at the start. Silver raised the flag. "On your marks, get set, GO!" And with that, Sonic and Nic sped off. The others made their way to the plaza. Knuckles carried Elise. "Do you think Sonic'll win?" Tails asked nervously. "Of course he'll win" Amy said matter-of-facterly. But one look at Elise made her say "I hope".

Sonic was getting confident. Nic was trailing behind. He had trouble going around corners, while Sonic sped round them with no problem. Nic began to get frustrated. Pulling the emerald out, he smirked as it began to glow. Suddenly, he began to speed up. Sonic looked behind and realised what he was doing. Soon Nic and Sonic were neck and neck. "You're pretty good" Sonic said, casually, "But it won't be enough to beat me!" "Really?" Nic asked, before slamming into Sonic into a nearby building. By the time Sonic got his senses back, Nic was further ahead. Sonic began running as fast as he could.

In the plaza, the others were waiting. "Where could they be?" Blaze asked. "Hey, Tails. Do you see anything up there?" asked Shadow. Tails was flying in the air, trying to see if he could find Sonic. He then noticed a familiar trail of blue. "Sonic's coming!" he cried with happiness until he noticed Nic was further ahead. "Oh no! Nic's further ahead! Sonic won't be able to catch up!" Hearing this, the others looked grim. If Sonic lost, they'd lose all of their emeralds and Elise would become Nic's.

Sonic had approached the final sprint but Nic was still ahead. "You lose!" Nic mocked as he looked behind. Sonic tried picking up speed but it was no good. Nic was going to win. "I'm sorry, Elise. I let you down" he said to himself. Suddenly, he swore he could hear Elise. "Sonic, don't give up. I believe in you". Those words caused Sonic to pick up speed. He began to run so fast, the wind started to pick up. That's when he performed a Sonic Boom! He zoomed straight past Nic, knocking him off his feet and crossed the finish line that was being held up by Amy and Rouge.

"Sonic, you did it!" Amy cried, pulling Sonic into one of her backbreaking hugs. She let go when Nic arrived. "I win, Nic. Release Elise (rhyme) and hand that emerald over!" Sonic demanded. Nic wasn't going down without a fight but his mind was changed when he noticed that Omega was hulking over him.

* * *

Later, Elise was lying in bed. She'd just woken up and Sonic was talking to her. "Glad to see you're awake" he said. "Thanks, Sonic. I knew you wouldn't let me down" she replied. "What happened with Nic?" "Oh, you won't have to worry about him anymore. His lady-friends ratted him out for illegal trades so Shadow slapped the cuffs on him". Elise sighed with relief. "So, we've got 5 emeralds now?" she asked, changing the subject. "Yep. One more is out there and then we can get Eggman's" he explained.

Little did he or Elise know that the last emerald was just outside but in the hand of an unknown figure. He was watching Sonic through the window. "Oh, one more is out here, Sonic. But soon, your emeralds will be out here with me, Metal Sonic!"

**Next time: Metal Sonic strikes and prepares to kill Sonic once and for all. But in the process, unintentionally awakens true darkness!**


	12. Chapter 12

**R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 12: Darkness Unleashed Part 1: Metal's Wrath

It was an important day for Sonic. The city had finished building the Sonic statue and the unveiling was today. He was going to stand next to Elise as she revealed it to the city. He was also going to make a speech. It was this that was getting him nervous. He had no idea what he was going to say. The others had offered to help him but he wanted to try it on his own and he was failing miserably. After the 11th time, he gave up and decided just to make it up as he went along.

Meanwhile, Elise was getting excited. For once she was doing an event that she wouldn't find boring. Plus, she'd be with Sonic some more. She still wasn't entirely sure about her feelings towards the blue hero. She didn't say anything in fear of humiliating Sonic. That would be the last thing she wanted. She decided to put the thought out of her head by thinking of the Chaos Emeralds. At the moment, they had five while Eggman had one. All they needed were his and the last one and Eggman would be defeated. A horrid thought struck her. If Eggman was defeated, would Sonic and the others leave? She didn't want that. It wasn't just Sonic but she had formed a strong friendship with the others. She'd hate to see them all go. She tried to take her mind of it. She needed to have full attention.

* * *

It wasn't long until the whole city was in the main square. In the centre was a platform and on top of it was something covered with a huge blue curtain. Sonic's friends were in the crowd but they had managed to make it to the front so they could get a clear view of the unveiling. Standing in front of the covered object were Sonic, Elise and Smit. He was the only one who wasn't excited (no prizes for guessing why). The fact they were awarding him when he was responsible for the city taking damage made his blood boil. No one noticed. Everyone's attention was focused on Sonic and Elise.

Elise stood forward. "People of Soleanna. I know you've been waiting long, so I'll make this quick. I give you, Sonic the Hedgehog!" And with that, she pulled the curtain off. The Sonic statue was white and showed Sonic doing his traditional thumbs up. The pedestal had a graving that said "The Blue Wind". Sonic was impressed by the likeness of it. It took him a while to realise everyone was waiting for him to speak. This was it, he thought. He was still incredibly nervous and wasn't sure he could pull it off.

He cleared his throat and was about to speak when a scream was heard. People started to part way as a figure strode down. One that Sonic and the others weren't to happy to see. Silver, Blaze and Elise were the only ones who didn't know him. He was a robot that bared a resemblance to Sonic, only he had claws, was taller, had elf like shoes, a black cloak and his spikes stuck out.

"Who's that?" Elise asked Sonic. "Is it another one of Eggman's robots?"

"Don't dare mention that buffoon!" the robot cried. "Yes, I was created by him, but I'm far superior to him! I'm the Metal Overlord, the true Sonic, I am Metal Sonic!"

"It's been a while, Metal. Ready to have your butt kicked again?" Sonic mocked.

"You may have your friends with you, but this time, I'll be victorious!" Metal yelled.

"We'll see about that" smirked Sonic, as he made a beeline for Metal. The robot saw it coming and merely knocked Sonic out of the way.

"Pathetic" said Metal. "Then try me!" Metal turned to the sound of the voice and saw Knuckles. "So Knucklehead wants a shot? Very well" Metal said and he charged for Knuckles with surprising speed. Knuckles stood his ground and grabbed hold of two of Metal's spikes. He began to spin before letting go and throwing Metal into a nearby building. The look-a-like got up and threw lightning from his fingertips. Knuckles was taken by surprise and forced to the ground. If Metal had a mouth he'd be smiling but his eyes widened in shock as he saw Shadow coming at him.

Metal cut the attack off to avoid Shadow. The black hedgehog threw a bunch of Chaos Spears at him but Metal managed to dodge them. Shadow then used Chaos Control to teleport behind Metal and pull his arms behind his back. "Try to avoid this!" Shadow cried as he began to turn red before yelling "Chaos Blast!"

When the dust settled, Shadow noticed that Metal was gone. "Have you forgotten? I can use Chaos Control too" Metal explained before coming from behind and kicking Shadow towards Sonic, who was trying to get back up before being knocked back down by Shadow. "Is there no one who can defeat me?" Metal asked. "Try me!" Silver challenged. "Blaze, look after the others" he said to the purple cat. Blaze seemed worried but put faith in Silver as he faced Metal.

"Who are you?" asked Metal. "I'm Silver the Hedgehog. I come from the future and do my best to stop creatures like you!" the white hedgehog declared. Metal saw this as some parlour trick and threw a bolt of lightning at him. Silver managed to create a barrier to protect himself. He then picked up a chunk of rubble and threw it at the robot with his mind. Metal was hit with full force and knocked back. As he got up, he noticed a small dent in his head. "A psychic opponent. This should be fun" he smirked as he charged at Silver. Silver wasn't as fast as Sonic or Shadow so he was unable to avoid Metal slashing him across the chest. He fell down holding his stomach in pain. Metal kicked him away.

Blaze was about to rush in and take him on but Amy held her back. "There's no point" she said. "Metal isn't like Eggman. He's ruthless and destructive. Sonic should be able to take care of him". As she finished her sentence, Sonic had managed to get up this time and got into a fighting stance.

"I forgot how persistent you are" Metal said. "But this battle is mine!" He then pulled out the blue emerald and held it into the air. "Chaos Emeralds, I summon you!" The sky suddenly turned dark and six lights appeared around Metal. Those lights were replaced with the other six emeralds. "I have all seven Chaos Emeralds in my possession! Try defeating me now, rodent!" the evil robot declared.

Elise knew Sonic was in trouble. She had remembered what Nic did with his emerald and the mole robot's power when it had an emerald powering it. She had to help. She noticed the table that held the food on it. There was supposed to be a big banquet after the unveiling. On the table was a bottle of champagne. Without thinking, she picked it up and went straight for Metal. Rouge had noticed this and cried after her. "Elise, no!"

Rouge's cry attracted Metal's attention but before he could turn around, Elise smashed the bottle over his head. Metal slowly turned around and faced Elise. "That hurt" he said simply. Suddenly, he grabbed Elise by the throat and held her up in the air. Sonic ran up to him. "Metal, let her go!" he demanded. "Too late" Metal replied and began to electrocute Elise. She screamed in terrible agony as Sonic just stood there in horror. Metal decided that Elise had had enough and dropped her.

Sonic ran up to her and felt for a pulse. It was very faint. "Elise" he whispered. Metal stood over them. "Humph. Some ruler she turned out to be" he said.

"Shut up, Metal" Sonic said quietly.

"A ruler needs to be strong. Not weak like her".

"I said, shut up" Sonic repeated, this time louder.

"Even you must admit, the city would do better with her gone".

"I said, SHUT UP!!"

Suddenly, the emeralds turned black and the sky turned red. Thunder began to crack the sky. Nearby citizens stood in horror as did Smit, Amy, Tails and the others. Silver got up, fighting the pain as did Shadow and they saw what was going on before them. Even Metal stood there in shock. He felt something he had never felt before, fear.

There standing before him was Sonic. Only he was different. His quills stood up, his fur had gone completely black and his eyes were blank.

"What is this?" Metal demanded. Sonic stood there and chuckled evilly. "This is true evil!" he said, in a dark tone. Metal was too frightened to do anything.

Shadow and Silver regrouped with the others. "What's happened?" asked Smit. No one answered. Then Shadow spoke. "Sonic has lost control of his anger and has transformed into the most evil creature in existence, Dark Sonic!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry this took a while. Hope you enjoy it!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 13: Darkness Unleashed Part 2: Last Light

Last time, Metal Sonic returned and gave a sound thrashing to Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow and Silver. He then managed to summon the Chaos Emeralds to him. Elise, in a last ditch effort, smashed a bottle over his head. Metal, not willing to take that, electrocuted Elise, nearly killing her. Sonic's rage exploded with terrible consequences and he is now the most evil being in the universe, Dark Sonic!

* * *

Metal stood still as he looked into Dark Sonic's blank eyes. He had never felt such evil before. Shaking himself out of it, Metal said "So what if you've changed colour? It's not enough to beat me!"

"Really? Let's find out!" Dark Sonic laughed as he sped towards Metal and punched him in the side of the face, knocking him through several buildings. By the time, he got himself back up, Dark Sonic was above. He grabbed him by the neck and through him into the air. He then jumped after him. When he was above him, he fired a dark energy blast straight down, forcing Metal into the ground.

Metal noticed the many dents he had received and noticed his right arm was barely hanging on by a wire.

"He's crazy. He really intends to kill me" he said to himself. Looking up, he noticed the evil hedgehog plummeting towards him. With quick thinking, Metal used Chaos Control and left the city, getting as far away as possible.

Dark Sonic didn't look pleased about Metal's escape. "Fine! If I can't destroy him, I'll just destroy the whole city and kill everyone!"

He flew up in the air and started forming a huge sphere of dark energy, which got bigger and bigger. If the sun wasn't already being blocked out by the red clouds, it've been blocked out by this.

* * *

The other heroes just looked on as their friend prepared to obliterate the city he'd been protecting. Smit's reaction however was different.

"I knew he was bad! I knew it! I told her Highness but she wouldn't…"

"Oh, SHUT UP!" everyone yelled, even Cream.

Shadow turned to the emeralds, which were still jet black.

"He's using the emeralds to gain power" Shadow said. An idea came to him. "Guys, I'm gonna stop him!"

"What? That's suicide!" yelled Tails.

"I may die, but I'm not gonna just stand here and let him kill everyone!" Shadow ran to the emeralds and picked them up. He turned to Rouge and Omega.

"Guys, if I don't live, it's been great working with you". Rouge nodded but still looked tearful. While you couldn't tell, Omega was feeling sad as well.

Shadow held the emeralds up and began to speak. "Chaos Emeralds! You are our last hope. Lend me your power!"

In a flash of light, Shadow's fur turned gold and his spikes stood up. He was Super Shadow!

* * *

Dark Sonic looked on with amusement. People were running in terror. "Fools. Now, they'll know my sorrow".

"Not as long as I live!" Dark Sonic turned and saw a yellow light ram into him, causing the sphere to disappear.

"You dare interfere!" Dark Sonic yelled with anger.

Super Shadow tried to reason with the dark ego. "Sonic, this isn't like you! Think of Elise. Would she want you to be a monster?"

Dark Sonic began to get even angrier. "Leave her out of this!" He charged at Super Shadow and attempted to kick him but Super Shadow blocked with his arm. They backed off and Super Shadow threw a horde of Chaos Spears. Dark Sonic did the same only his were black. The attacks collided, causing an explosion. In the smoke, Dark Sonic couldn't see, giving Super Shadow the chance to come up behind him and kick him upwards.

* * *

Back on the ground, a bunch of news reporters had arrived and were beginning to interview Smit. "Mr. Smit. Could you inform us what's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on! That blue hedgehog is happening. That blue menace is going to destroy us all and…" He was cut off when Amy whacked him on the head. She turned to the reporters with fire in her eyes. "Shouldn't you be hiding?" she asked, but the way she said emant it was an order. The reporters immediately left.

* * *

Back with the fight, Super Shadow was surprisingly winning. He had just focused all his power into one punch and had knocked Dark Sonic into the ground, leaving a crater.

Dark Sonic picked himself out of it and stared at Super Shadow, who had also landed. "Sonic, it doesn't have to be like this" he said, still attempting to reason with him.

"What's the point? Without her, this world is meaningless!" Dark Sonic yelled. "Sonic, are you suggesting something?" Super Shadow asked, suddenly beginning to wonder if Sonic liked Elise more than he let on.

"You wouldn't understand!" replied Dark Sonic, teleporting behind Super Shadow and kneeing him in the back. He teleported above Super Shadow and punched him down. Now, it was Super Shadow's turn to be in a crater. "DIE!" Dark Sonic cried as he fired a black laser down towards Super Shadow.

* * *

Cream was looking over Elise. She had several burns after being electrocuted by Metal. Suddenly, her eyes flew open. Cream jumped back in surprise but she began to smile.

"Guys, Elise's awake!" she informed the others. They ran up to Elise's side.

"We were so worried about you" said Amy.

"Yeah, we thought you were a gonner" Rouge admitted.

"How are you feeling?" asked Silver.

"I'm OK. It stings, but I think I'll live" she said. She then noticed that some of the buildings were badly damaged and that some people were missing.

"Where are Sonic, Shadow and Metal? Are they fighting?" she asked. Everyone else looked a bit uneasy.

"Well," started Knuckles, "Metal left". Elise was surprised. "Guess Sonic beat him up bad, huh?"

Suddenly, Shadow, who was no longer in Super form, came flying through a nearby building and landed near them. Dark Sonic walked through the hole and proceeded towards Shadow.

Elise stood there, stunned. Why had Sonic's fur turned black? And why were his eyes blank? The answer came to her when Sonic said "Oh good. More people to kill!"

Knuckles and Silver stood in his path. "Please" Dark Sonic scoffed. With a wave of his hand, a black wind knocked the two up in the air. Dark Sonic then threw some Chaos Spears, which knocked them back down.

Dark Sonic prepared to walk over to Shadow. He was still intent on killing him. However, Amy latched onto him.

"Sonic, please stop" she pleaded. That didn't work.

"Unhand me!" Dark Sonic cried, throwing her off of him. Elise was still at a loss for words. Rouge decided to explain. "Sonic thought you were dead and lost his temper. When that happens, he turns into Dark Sonic and becomes a soulless killing machine" she explained.

Elise couldn't believe it. Sonic, the same person who she cared about more than anyone else, the one who made her life worthwhile, was trying to kill his friends.

Omega had begun to open fire but it was all in vain. The bullets just bounced off. Dark Sonic was getting fed up and placed his palm on the ground. Suddenly, blue electricity struck Omega, short-circuiting him. Dark Sonic kicked him aside and stood above Shadow, who couldn't move.

"Farewell, Shadow the Hedgehog" Dark Sonic said, menacingly. He was distracted however when he felt someone slap him. Turning, he saw Elise. For a moment, Dark Sonic's eyes widened.

"Elise".

"Sonic," Elise spoke, trying to hold back her tears, "This isn't you! What happened to the hero who would protect those he cared about with his life? What happened to the friend who was there by my side when I was feeling down? Where's the one who I love?"

At that last sentence, Dark Sonic's eyes widened even more. He then looked at all the destruction, his friends and Elise. All of a sudden, he yelled "What have I done?!" as he reverted to normal. He then fainted.

* * *

Elsewhere, the light-blue emerald, which had teleported, as well as the other emeralds, began to glow weird. Then, a figure emerged from the emerald.

"It seems someone used the emeralds' negative powers a lot more than usual. Now, I'm free to conquer the world!" the new figure laughed.

**Next time: a new enemy arrives and Silver get's a rival. Also, what will become of Sonic and Elise?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Longest chapter I've done** **for this story. Enjoy and R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 14: Silver's Rival

It's been a week since Dark Sonic nearly obliterated the whole city and everyone was doing their best to rebuild it. Well, except for Sonic.

After waking up, he had shut himself away from the others, refusing to see them. Everyone was worried about him. Even Shadow! Sonic spent his time lying on his bed and thinking things over. He'd let himself turn into his dark half and nearly destroy everyone, even his friends! What disturbed him the most was the look on Elise's face. It was a mixture of fear and sadness. And that's what got him. He always told her to smile and had ended up making her cry! It made him feel awful inside.

Another thought came into mind. He remembered the words Elise said which brought him back, "Where's the one who I love?" This got him thinking. The main reason he came to Soleanna was to find out if Elise was in love with him. Did she actually mean it or did she mean in a 'close friend' way? Either way, it didn't matter. Sonic didn't feel like looking at her again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Elise was having a hard time as well. She had openly admitted to loving Sonic, in front of everyone. Well, they didn't believe it, actually. Elise told them she meant it in a 'close friend' way, which they accepted, to her relief. But this was a lie. She'd always been unsure but now she knew. She loved him. But she couldn't tell anyone. Would Sonic be embarrassed? Disgusted? And what about the others? Cross species dating didn't work! She agreed to keep quiet about it. To her discomfort though, Shadow had been giving her looks. Did he know something? Elise was too afraid to find out.

* * *

Now, we move on to Smit, who for the first time in a month or so was happy. He had managed to scrape footage from people who had cameras to prove that sonic was responsible for the damage. After showing the footage to the same group of reporters who Amy had scared off, he walked back with a jig in his step. He walked past the statue of Sonic (which was surprisingly undamaged) and thought, "You're finished, hedgehog!"

* * *

Elsewhere, looking over the city was a mysterious figure. He looked about the place, surprised at how ruined it was.

"I guess Sonic used more of the negative energy than I thought" the figure said to himself. "Now, how do I find him?" He then slapped himself. "Wait. I can draw him out by simply attacking the city. It doesn't seem to be in the position for defence so attacking will be easy. I really need to get some more air" he said, hardly believing he actually wondered how to attract Sonic's attention.

* * *

Little did he know, attracting Sonic's attention wasn't going to be easy, seeing as how the depressed hero had locked himself in his room. Knuckles suggested breaking it down but was scolded for it.

"Let's just leave him. I'm sure he'll come out of it" an enthusiastic Tails said.

Shadow shook his head. "It's not easy accepting the fact that he nearly killed us. We need him out of this now. Who knows when Eggman'll attack".

* * *

Back with Smit. As he approached the castle, he noticed the mysterious figure.

"You there. What do you want?" he demanded.

"Oh, nothing. I just want to destroy everything" the figure responded, forming red spheres in his hands.

* * *

In the castle, Elise, Amy, Silver and Blaze were sitting in the lounge when they heard an explosion from outside.

"Oh come on!" Blaze cried. "The city's already in ruins!"

Silver jumped up. "Come on! We've got to check it out!" he said.

"But what about Sonic?" asked Amy.

"If he doesn't want to fight, I'm not waiting for him!" he answered, sternly.

By the time Silver got outside, he realised that Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge and Omega had beaten him to it.

"You too, huh?" Knuckles asked, indicating that they weren't going to wait for Sonic either.

Silver nodded as he stood beside them. "Is it Eggman again?" he asked.

Rouge shook her head. "I don't think so, unless that thing's a robot".

The thing she was talking about was the figure. He was a silver hedgehog wearing white gloves and shoes that were half red, half blue. His quills were stuck up as well.

"Who are you?" asked Shadow.

"If you must know, I'm Nazo! The most powerful being in the universe" Nazo declared.

"Let's test that theory" Knuckles challenged as he charged at Nazo. To his surprise, Nazo disappeared. Before Knuckles could register it, Nazo reappeared and kicked Knuckles round the back of the head.

Shadow was startled. "He can use Chaos Control!"

"Of course. I possess all of your Chaos powers, what with you and Sonic being the main users of the emeralds" Nazo explained.

This confused Shadow even more but before he could ask anymore, Omega retracted his claws and pulled out his guns.

Nazo raised an eyebrow as Omega began to fire. Nazo jumped into the air to dodge the bullets and fired a Chaos Spear towards the robot, which knocked him over.

"Pathetic machinery" said Nazo. "No weapon can defeat me!"

"Then how about me?" Nazo turned to see Rouge flying towards him. She began to use her Screw Kick which got Nazo in the forehead, knocking him back. Omega had managed to get back up and whacked Nazo to the side with his arm.

Nazo got back up and smirked. "I have to admit. You're teamwork certainly makes you worthy adversaries but can it help you in a hostage situation?" Nazo then pulled out from a nearby piece of rubble, a very bruised Smit. "Make a move and he dies!" Nazo threatened.

Rouge and Omega stood their ground. They might not've liked Smit but he didn't deserve to die. Nazo smiled at his victory and turned away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a hedgehog to flush out".

With his back turned, Rouge flew towards him to try and get the jump on him but Nazo must've noticed because he turned back around and threw a red disk straight for her.

"ROUGE!" Shadow cried a she jumped in front of the disk, taking the blow. He was knocked back, with a gash in his chest.

"Pathetic" sneered Nazo.

"You've still got me to deal with!" cried Silver.

Nazo waved his finger. "Are you forgetting? I can kill this man at anytime. Do you want blood on your hands?"

* * *

Back in the castle, Elise was watching the whole thing. She couldn't take it. She ran to Sonic's room and began to bang on the door.

"Sonic! Come out!" she screamed. Sonic heard her cries but refused to listen. "Sonic, come out! The others need you! I need you!" Upon hearing those words, Sonic sat up. She was willing to forgive him? Her feelings towards him hadn't changed? Sonic now knew what he had to do.

* * *

Back outside, Silver was trying to think of a way to stop Nazo. He had Smit as a hostage; Shadow was down with Rouge kneeling beside him and with only Knuckles and Omega as back up. And neither of them could do anything either. It looked like Nazo had won when a blue blur came crashing through the window, ramming into Nazo, causing him to release Smit.

"Knuckles, grab Smit and get him inside!" Silver ordered. Nodding, Knuckles picked up the advisor and headed straight for the castle.

Nazo stood up and noticed that the one who hit him was Sonic! "So, Sonic the Hedgehog. We meet at last" Nazo said, looking pleased.

"Whoever you are, I won't let you do anymore damage!" Sonic declared.

"A bit ironic, isn't it? Seeing as you were the one who gave me the last bit of energy I needed to be born" Nazo stated.

Noticing Sonic's confused expression; Nazo explained "I was born from the Chaos Emeralds. This one to be more precise" he started, pulling out the light-blue emerald. "Every time someone used the negativity of the emeralds, I began to form. Examples being Perfect Chaos and Mephiles". Sonic was shocked by the sound of the last name but no one noticed. "Anyway, I still needed one last burst of negative energy to be complete and several days ago, you used that negative power to become Dark Sonic, giving me the last needed energy" the silver hedgehog explained.

Sonic couldn't believe it. He'd helped create a monster. But he remembered what Elise said. He wasn't going to let that get him down. "I'll still defeat you!" he cried in determination. He charged straight for Nazo but since he saw it coming, Nazo teleported out of the way and grabbed Sonic from behind and threw him towards a nearby building. Sonic picked himself up and Spin Dashed towards Nazo but Nazo clicked his fingers sending an electrical jolt through Sonic's body, rendering him immobile.

Nazo was pleased with his work but failed to notice Silver coming from the side to kick him in the head. The attack connected and caused Nazo to fall over. Looking up, he snarled and teleported behind Silver. To his surprise, Silver held him in place with his psychic powers and threw him across the floor. "Finally, a challenge!" Nazo smirked as he sped towards Silver.

The evil hog did an uppercut to his good counterpart, knocking him into the air. Silver managed to keep himself aloft, using his psychic powers to levitate but Nazo was heading towards him with great speed. Silver moved to the side to avoid another uppercut and picked up a piece of rubble and threw it upwards. It broke upon contact with Nazo's body, seriously injuring him. Getting fed up, Nazo sped back down so he was opposite to Silver.

"You're tough. Who are you?" he asked. Silver smirked. "I'm Silver the Hedgehog!"

"Good. Now I'll know what to put on your gravestone!" Nazo cried as he charged up two red spheres in his hands. He threw them towards Silver, as well as several others that formed in his hands, as he cried "Chaos Torrent!"

Silver saw the onslaught and pulled up a barrier but to his surprise, the spheres stopped. He had managed to grab hold of them. Smiling, Silver threw them back. Nazo managed to dodge most of them, but a few knocked him backwards.

"I think it's time I ended this!" Nazo snarled. He began to move backwards before shooting towards Silver, very quickly. Silver noticed this, began to move backwards before shooting towards Nazo. The two got closer in the air before eventually colliding, which caused a bright green explosion.

As it cleared, both Silver and Nazo dropped to the ground. They had loads of bruises and were panting heavily. Eventually, one of them collapsed, Nazo.

"I swear, Silver the Hedgehog, this isn't over. I shall make it my life's work to destroy you!" he yelled, before disappearing. Silver realized he had dropped the light-blue emerald and picked it up.

The others came rushing up to him, congratulating him for defeating Nazo. Sonic walked up and said "Nice work, Silver. You've gotten tougher". He gave him the thumbs up which Silver returned.

"Good to see you're back, Sonic".

* * *

An hour or so later, Silver was resting up. Even though he'd fallen asleep, Blaze didn't leave his side. Sonic chuckled at this. He wondered why those two just didn't admit it to each other. That's when he remembered.

He found Elise alone in the lounge. He walked up and sat down next to her.

"How's Smit doing?" he asked, trying to strike up a normal conversation.

"Oh, he'll be fine. Although he's going to get a stern talking to" Elise said. She picked up a nearby newspaper and showed the headline: Hero Goes Crazy, Claims Old Man.

Sonic nearly fell over laughing. "Guess they didn't believe him, huh?" Elise nodded. "Still" Sonic continued, "Go easy on him".

He then decided to ask Elise the question that was bugging him the most.

"Elise. When I was Dark Sonic, you said something about loving me. Right?"

Elise went stiff and began to blush. What was she going to say? She suddenly found herself saying, "I meant it in a 'close friend' way".

Sonic nodded and said "Also you would've said anything to get me back right?"

Elise nodded. With his question answered, Sonic could relax. He got his answer. Although he had a nagging feeling that Elise was hiding something. Unfortunately, Amy showed up.

"Sonic. Now that you're back to normal, I was wondering…"

Before she finished, Sonic ran. Amy began to chase after him, holding her hammer high (whoa, too many H words).

Elise giggled at this. She jumped when she turned back and saw Shadow standing there.

"Don't sneak up on me" she said, catching her breath. Shadow had a white bandage across his waist after Nazo's assault. He sat down next to Elise and began giving her a cock-eyed look. She felt uneasy but it got worse when Shadow said "I know you love him".

She turned to face Shadow and said "Ok, I admit it. But don't tell anyone. Especially Sonic" she pleaded.

Shadow nodded but as he walked off, he said "I won't but you will!"

**Cliffhanger! Will Elise admit to Sonic her true feelings? Watch this space!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A new OC and sort of dedicated to Smit. You may get a new perspective on him by the end.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 15: An Old Man's Heart

Smit was walking down the street in anger. He had the chance to let everyone know that Sonic was a menace and what happens? No one believes him! He felt like just leaving the city. And it wasn't just Sonic. It was his friends, too. Smit had never liked anthros. He believed that they were filthy, inhuman creatures that deserved to be locked away. But no one knew why.

As he walked, he saw a beggar sitting on the side of the road. It was another anthro. She wore a brown cloak to keep herself warm and her fur was grubby and covered in dirt. She looked really tired and hungry. Now, it may surprise you but Smit didn't like to see people having to beg. He showed remorse for them. Despite how much he loathed her kind, he pulled out a few coins and dropped them in front of her. She looked at him with a sign of thanks and grabbed the coins and headed for a stall across the road, which sold cheap food.

In her haste, she failed to notice a speeding car heading in her direction. Smit saw this and managed to push her out of the way at the last minute. They landed in a heap but neither was hurt. Smit was stunned about what he did. He had never done something like that before.

The girl picked herself up and brushed herself down. She looked at Smit and he was surprised at how blue her eyes were.

"Thank you. First you give me some money and then you save my life". She bowed. "If only I could repay you in some way".

Smit didn't reply. Normally, he'd ignore her but she reminded him of someone.

"It was no problem" Smit finally said. "I mean, if a man can't help someone out then he can't help himself".

The girl chuckled. Smit felt sympathy for her. If she wasn't so grubby then maybe she'd look beautiful. Then, a sudden idea hit him. One that shocked Sonic and the others later on.

* * *

The heroes and Elise walked into the castle. They had been out emerald hunting with Tails' new radar but had found nothing. All they had managed to do was get backache. Well, for the boys. They had been forced to drag the girl's bags around when Amy spotted a clothes shop with discounts.

Sonic and co. dropped bags and stretched.

"How many clothes does a girl need?" moaned Knuckles.

"Too many, if you ask me?" replied Silver.

Sonic, who was getting hungry, made a dash for the kitchen. When he entered he was surprised to see someone he didn't know at the table, sipping at a bowl of soup. She was a hedgehog with light-blue fur, quills that were tied back and a blue pendant hanging around her neck. She wore white gloves with blue bracelets, as well as green jeans with blue trainers and a white shirt.

Sonic just stood there. Who was this girl? Before he could say anything, Smit's voice was heard.

"Aqua! Are you enjoying your soup?"

"Yeah, it's just that someone else is here" the girl known as Aqua replied.

Smit came in from another part of the kitchen and saw Sonic.

"Oh, it's just you" he said disdainfully.

"Yeah, hi. Uh, who is this?" Sonic asked, referring to Aqua.

* * *

A short while later, Sonic and the others were gathered in the living room, with Aqua and Smit standing in front of them.

"Your Majesty," Smit began, talking to Elise first, "This is Aqua Bubbles".

Aqua curtsied to Elise. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty".

Elise smiled. "It's nice to meet you too. And please, just call me Elise".

Aqua nodded and turned to the others. "And who are you lot?"

Sonic decided to handle the introductions. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. And these are Miles 'Tails' Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, E-123 Omega, Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat".

Aqua shook hands with all of them. "It's nice to meet you all".

Smit spoke up again. "Aqua is going to live here now. If it's all right with you, Rouge, she'll be sharing with you".

Rouge showed no objections but was slightly confused about his sudden niceness.

Smit then turned back to Elise. "I hope it's alright with you, Your Highness". Elise nodded but was also wondering why Smit had allowed this girl to stay here.

* * *

While the girls decided to show Aqua around the castle, the others started discussing.

"What's with Smit?" Sonic asked.

"Who knows?" Shadow replied.

"I always thought Smit didn't like anthros" Tails thought out loud.

"Maybe he's gone mad. What with him being accused of making the whole Dark Sonic thing up" suggested Silver.

"Why don't we just ask him?" Tails asked.

Sonic shook his head. "He'll never tell us, but I know who can".

The girls had come back from the castle tour and had returned to the living room where the boys were waiting.

"Aqua," Sonic started, "Would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?"

Aqua shook her head and sat down opposite them. "What would you like to know?"

"Well, anything in general" said Sonic.

Aqua took a deep breath and began. "Well, as you know, my name's Aqua Bubbles. I was born into a poor family who happened to live here in Soleanna. My mum died while giving birth and so did my dad, 10 years later. So I spent the next three years living by myself on the streets, begging. I'm surprised I lasted that long. Probably because I can't get dehydrated".

The others were confused by this statement, so Aqua opened her hand and a bubble formed. "I have water like abilities. I can't control bodies of water but I can form it. Anyway, like I said, I spent three years begging until Mr. Smit saved my life and invited me to stay here".

The others were now even more confused. Smit saved an anthro's life and invited them to stay at the castle? It was clear that they'd have to talk with Smit later on. Suddenly, an eruption was heard outside.

"What was that?" asked Aqua.

"Let's find out shall we?" smirked Sonic. As they ran outside, Sonic turned to Elise and Aqua. "You two stay here!" Before either could argue, he followed the others outside.

* * *

The team had arrived in the main plaza and saw Eggman in his Eggmobile.

"Greetings, Sonic Heroes! It's been a while, hasn't it?" he smirked.

"What are you doing now, Egghead?" Sonic demanded.

"Looking for the Chaos Emeralds, which has proven successful" the doctor explained, pulling out the blue emerald. "And, I've come up with the perfect creation to finally defeat you!"

Out of nowhere, a robot that was humorously designed to look like a fire-fighter appeared. The others couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Laugh while you can!" Eggman yelled. Suddenly, the robot burst into flames. At first, they thought it had blown up, only to realize that the flames were covering it, like a shield.

"Oh, great. How are we supposed to hurt a robot covered in fire?" Sonic moaned.

Blaze sighed. "Are you forgetting?" She lit her hands with fire and charged for the robot. Since she could control fire, she was invulnerable to it. But to her surprise, the robot jumped and slammed its foot into the back of her head.

This peeved Silver off beyond belief. Picking up a nearby crate, he threw it straight at the robot but it was destroyed by the fire. Shadow tried firing Chaos Spears at it but hey had no effect on the robot's armour. Eggman knew what he was thinking when he made it. Since projectiles couldn't work and Blaze was too slow for the robot, which moved quite quickly, they had no chance.

"Looks like I win, Sonic!" Eggman gloated. Then out of nowhere, a jet of water doused the flames surrounding the robot. Everyone turned to see Aqua wiping her mouth.

"Yeah, I can shoot water too" she stated. Eggman became infuriated.

"You pesky girl! My robot will destroy you!" The robot ran at Aqua but she jumped over it with amazing agility. She then fired a torrent of bubbles at it, which were surprisingly powerful as they knocked the robot on to its face. Aqua then jumped, flipped and landed on top of the robot, crushing its head.

Eggman was even more annoyed now. Before he could call anymore robots, Cream had flown up and covered his eyes.

"Guess who?" she taunted.

While Eggman tried to shake her off, Cheese grabbed his emerald and took of with it. Cream followed and, upon realising that his emerald had been stolen, went into a fit of rage.

"ARGH! You watery brat! This is all your fault!" A compartment in his mobile opened to reveal a missile which he fired.

* * *

In the castle, Smit saw Elise standing at the door.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Elise turned to him. "Eggman's back but Aqua managed to defeat his robot". She turned back and saw Eggman fire the missile.

* * *

Aqua began to run from the missile but it continued to follow her. Omega tried shooting it down but his shots either missed or bounced off. Soon, Aqua tripped and the missile prepared to hit. Aqua closed her eyes and awaited death.

Suddenly, Smit appeared and jumped on the missile, redirecting it upwards. It flew into the air, with Smit barely hanging on. He eventually lost his grip but thankfully, Rouge was there to catch him. The missile exploded in the air, causing Eggman to make a hasty retreat.

Sonic slapped Smit on the back when he landed.

"Now, THAT'S heroism!" he complimented.

"Yeah, and to think he didn't like anthros" Rouge said.

Worst thing to say. Aqua turned to Smit, looking hurt.

"What? You hate my kind?"

Smit began to stutter. "No. No. It's just that…" He trailed off. "I suppose I should tell you. Several years ago, when I was advisor to the duke, I had a wife and daughter who I cared about very much. But one day, I received a message that they had both died in a car crash. They were in a taxi on their way home when the driver swerved and crashed into a building. He survived but my family didn't. It was revealed that the driver was drunk… and he was an anthro".

This suddenly explained everything. That was the reason for Smit's hatred of anthros. Aqua, looking at Smit, decided to speak.

"Just because one person did something wrong doesn't mean you have to treat everyone else the same. There are many good anthros out there, including Sonic and his friends. Also, if you hate us so much, why did you bring me back to the castle?" she asked.

Smit kneeled down to her height. "You remind me of my daughter. It's your eyes. They're so blue. Just like hers".

Everyone felt incredibly sorry for Smit. A long silence followed which was finally broken by Smit.

"You're right, Aqua. There are good anthros out there". He turned to face Sonic. "Sonic. I'm sorry for the way I've treated you and your friends".

Sonic smiled. "No problem Smit". He then turned to Aqua. "If it's alright with you, we'd like you to help us fight Eggman, seeing as you helped us get that Chaos Emerald". Aqua gave off the biggest smile she'd ever given and nodded. A new hero had arrived!

**A new ally and Smit reformed! Next time, love begins to blossom for a certain cat!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for being away for so long. This is my first attempt of a pairing chapter so go easy on me, okay?**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 16: Jealousy

With Aqua now living at the castle, things were slightly livelier, since she and Smit had a father/daughter relationship and the royal advisor stopped hating Sonic and his friends. But this isn't about Aqua or Smit. Let's focus on a certain purple cat.

* * *

Blaze had just woken up. She had dreamt about the time she was brought back to her world when she escaped to Silver's time. This made her think about the times she spent with Silver. They were close friends and still are, but there was something about him that made her heart race. She couldn't quite figure it out at first but the more she thought about it, the more she began to realise what it was. She found it hard to believe at first but it finally settled in. She was in love with him.

Now, admitting it to herself was easy but admitting it to Silver, whole different story! She got dressed and went downstairs to find Silver walking out the door.

"Where're you going?" she asked.

Silver nearly jumped out of his fur and turned to see Blaze.

"Don't scare me like that" he gasped, trying to get his breath back.

"Sorry. Anyway, where're you going?" she asked again.

Silver began to start acting shifty. "Uh, nowhere important".

From outside, Aqua's voice was heard. "Come on, Silver. Don't want to be late!"

Blaze's eyes widened. "Why's Aqua going with you?" she asked, getting incredibly suspicious.

Silver tried to say something but found himself gagging. He eventually gave up and ran out of the door. Blaze wasn't stupid. Something was going on between him and Aqua. And she was going to find out.

* * *

Blaze had followed the two into the New City. She was hiding in an alley and was keeping an eye out for the two. She eventually saw them walk out of a shop, with Silver holding a small object wrapped in bubble wrap. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she saw Silver's mouth move and Aqua laughing. She waited until they were out of sight until she came out and looked at the shop. It was a jewellery shop. Blaze couldn't believe it. On the same day she'd fallen in love with Silver, he was going out with Aqua!

Blaze returned to the castle in the foulest of moods. She ignored Cream's hello and went straight back into her room. She began to pace, getting angrier by the minute. When she found herself shaking, she calmed herself down. She was still peeved with Silver. She had known him longer than anyone else, then along comes Aqua and he runs to her. She then got an idea to get back at him. She had to make Silver think that she was seeing someone too. Normally, Blaze would never do something like that but she wasn't thinking straight. As she left her room, she noticed a flaw. Who could she pretend to go out with and make it look believable? The answer came in the form of a blur that went straight past her. A smile flickered on her face as she chased after it calling,

"Oh, Sonic!"

* * *

Sometime later, Blaze had explained her plan to Sonic. After she had finished, Sonic opened his mouth to reply.

"No".

"What? Why not?" Blaze asked, angrily.

"Three reasons, Blaze. Number 1, Amy would kill me. Number 2, it's the wrong thing to do. And number 3, Amy would kill me!" Sonic responded.

"Oh, come on!" Blaze pleaded.

"Sorry, Blaze, but the answer's still no" said Sonic. "Anyway, why do you want to get back at Silver anyway? Why do you care who he goes out with?"

Blaze tried to think of an answer that didn't involve saying she loved Silver, but couldn't find one. Silver and Aqua then walked into the room carrying bags with unknown contents in them. When they saw Sonic and Blaze they stopped.

"Where have you two been?" Blaze asked.

"Uh, nowhere important" Silver replied, using the same excuse from this morning.

"What are you doing in here?" Aqua asked.

Blaze began to edge towards Sonic until they were _really_ close, which made Sonic nervous.

"Oh, we're just hanging out. You know how it is" Blaze said, matter-of-factly. She was waiting for Silver's look of disbelief but he stood there, not noticing.

"Well, we better go" Silver said, and he and Aqua left. Blaze began to get very annoyed. She turned to Sonic.

"You could've at least helped!" she yelled.

"What do you mean!?" Sonic asked.

"Well, you could've just held me close, nothing major!"

"Look, Blaze. I already said I wasn't going to help and I'm still not doing it!" Sonic explained. Before Blaze could retaliate, he ran off. Things were getting worse for Blaze.

* * *

The scene shifts to later that night. Blaze had just entered the castle. She'd been sent by the others to find another Chaos Emerald but her search proved fruitless. She didn't care though. She was still upset. While searching, she came to a decision. She would let Silver be. She knew what she planned to do was wrong and was glad Sonic didn't go through with it. If Silver wanted o be with Aqua then good for him, she thought.

Upon entering the castle, she noticed that all the lights were off. There hadn't been a power cut had there? She groped about in the dark until she found herself in the living room.

"Guys?" she called out, testing the light switch. The light flickered on and Blaze jumped back in shock when everybody yelled,

"SURPRISE!"

The room was decorated with ribbons and balloons and there was a banner that said, "Happy Birthday!" Blaze mentally slapped herself. She'd completely forgotten her birthday was coming up. This must've been the reason why they got her out of the castle. Silver was the first to walk up to her.

"Happy Birthday, Blaze. Hope we didn't freak you out too much" he chuckled.

Blaze smiled back. "No, not a lot".

* * *

The rest of the afternoon went great. Smit got a bit drunk and Cream had filled herself up on so much cake she began to feel ill but everything else worked out fine. Blaze had finished unwrapping the last of her presents and was pleased with everything she got. Silver then cleared his throat.

"Blaze. A little bird told me that you thought that Aqua and I were going out".

Blaze was shocked by this remark and made a spine-chilling glare towards Sonic.

"But you thought wrong" Silver explained. "She was just helping me out with some of the decorations and what to get for you".

Aqua nodded. "Yeah, Silver practically organized the whole thing!"

Blaze was beginning to feel stupid. She shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions and wouldn't have been surprised if Silver was angry with her. Instead, Silver pulled out a little black box. Blaze guessed it was the same thing that she saw Silver take out of the jewellers. Silver opened it and inside was a ruby ring. Blaze, with her mouth hanging open in awe, gratefully took it and put it on.

"Silver, its beautiful" she managed to say.

Silver took her hands in his and said, "Like you" before kissing her. Blaze was taken aback at first but didn't resist. She began to return the favour and everyone else clapped. Elise turned to Sonic and then noticed Shadow staring at her, mentally reminding her what he said to her. No one noticed. They were too busy celebrating Silver and Blaze.

The two eventually parted and looked at each other lovingly.

"Guess it wasn't one-sided, huh?" asked Blaze.

Silver smiled at this and they began to kiss again.

**Love can be found anywhere! Next time: an old friend from the past returns. Despite the fact she's supposed to be dead!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Read and review. Be sure to read the stuff after the chapter if you want to know about my competition.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 17: Rebirthing

This chapter starts at about three weeks ago, the same time Sonic transformed into Dark Sonic. As you may remember, Shadow used the Chaos Emeralds to turn super, but by doing so, the emeralds scattered. Well, on the same day, one Chaos Emerald ended up in Tails' workshop.

Inside was a whole manner of gadgets and gizmos, including a Tornado prototype. Near one of the windows was a capsule which contained a plant. Tails took care of this plant as best as he could. Since he had to go to Soleanna, he placed it in a capsule that could supply it with enough water and nutrients and it was placed near a window so it could get sunlight. Well, it was that same window that the emerald came crashing through. As well as the capsule! The green emerald landed next to the plant and the machine that was supplying it with the needed nutrients began to malfunction. Suddenly, both the emerald and the plant began to glow.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Soleanna, present day, Aqua was on her way to Dusty Desert. Tails' tracker had picked up an emerald and, since she couldn't dehydrate, she volunteered to find it.

Using the tracker, Aqua had travelled through most of the desert, while having to fight the occasional robot. So far, her search had proved fruitless. She soon found herself in a small town. This shocked her since this seemed like the last place that someone would live in. However, the tracker said that the emerald was close so she decided to check it out.

The town was bustling with excitement. Stalls were set up everywhere and Aqua had to push herself through several crowds in order to get anywhere. She eventually got fed up and stopped for a quick breather.

"Boy. Finding Chaos Emeralds was harder than I thought" she muttered to herself. All of a sudden, the tracker began to bleep very fast and Aqua looked to her right to see someone holding the emerald. This one was green. The figure walked into an alley. Aqua stood up and followed the person.

* * *

Aqua had to keep quiet. She had a feeling that this person wouldn't just give her the emerald, so she had to find a way of stealing it without hurting the person. While she ducked behind some crates and tried to think of a plan, she heard a commotion and peeked from behind the crates. A gang of muggers had appeared and were closing in on the figure.

"What do you want?" the figure asked. Aqua realised that the person was a girl by the sound of her voice.

The lead mugger, a black wolf with a scar over one eye, walked up to the figure and snarled "We want that shiny gem you've got. If you value your health, I suggest handing it over".

The girl held it to the chest, showing no signs of giving it up.

The wolf shrugged. "Your funeral. Boys, get her!"

Before the other muggers could advance, Aqua jumped from behind her hiding place and shot water at them, knocking them back. The leader was taken aback and had no time to dodge the torrent of bubbles that Aqua had aimed at his eyes. The leader made a very bad attempt of escaping and the others followed suit.

The girl turned and bowed to Aqua. She realised that this girl looked like a plant.

"Thank you so much" the plant girl said.

"It's no problem" Aqua shrugged. "I'm Aqua Bubbles".

"I'm Cosmo. How may I repay you?" Cosmo replied.

Aqua suddenly felt guilty. "Well, I was wondering if I could have that…"

Before she finished, Cosmo jumped back. "Why do you want the Chaos Emerald?"

"Wait. You know what it is?" Aqua asked.

Cosmo nodded. "I need it to find my friends. Last I heard, they were in Soleanna, but I can't find my way there".

Aqua, upon hearing this, got an idea. "How about I help you find them? I live in Soleanna so I can take you there".

A smile spread across Cosmo's face. "Oh, thank you. If you help me, I'll be so grateful".

Aqua smiled back and the two girls made their way out of the town.

I

* * *

n a nearby cave, another figure was analyzing some hieroglyphs on a wall. He seemed to know what it said.

"Yes. I was right. This is the prophecy that will spell doom for that pesky hedgehog and princess!" he cackled. Suddenly he heard voices and retreated into the shadows. Along came Aqua and Cosmo. Cosmo had been explaining about how her race had been wiped out by an alien race called the Metarex and how she died to save the galaxy. For some bizarre reason, she didn't mention who her friends were. Typical. Anyway, they entered the cave, thinking that it was a shortcut. Aqua spotted the hieroglyphs.

"What are these things?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe I can translate it" Cosmo said. She began to look closely at the weird markings.

"Hmm. I've translated it but I'm not sure what it means."

Aqua was curious. "What does it mean?"

Cosmo began to read. "When the purest light and wind meet, darkness will be reborn. If this happens, the wind shall stop blowing".

Aqua looked confused. She didn't understand it either. Unknown to both of them, the dark figure was watching them.

"Who are these two?" he thought. Then an idea came to him. "I think it's time to see how much power I've recovered."

With a wave of his hand, a bunch of dark tiger-like creatures jumped out of the ground, surprising both of the girls.

Aqua took no hesitation at shooting water at them. This got most of them but some dodged and shot lasers at her. Because of the low ceiling, Aqua slid under them and made a sliding kick at them. The last few jumped at her but she formed a bubble in her hand which she used to trap them in. with a tap of her finger, the bubble popped, taking the monsters with it.

"What were those things?" a worried Cosmo asked.

"No idea. But it's not safe here. We'll take the long way" Aqua responded and the two made their way out of the cave. The figure watched them go.

"Hmm. I need a bit more power. Then the fun will begin!"

* * *

The girls had made it into a clear area of the desert. The city could be made out in the distance.

"We're almost there, Cosmo" Aqua told her friend.

Cosmo smiled but that quickly fell when she saw a bunch of robots drop out of the sky. Aqua saw these too and prepared to fight. Surprisingly, the robots' attention wasn't on them. They appeared to be focusing on something behind them. Aqua and Cosmo turned to see a figure neither had seen. Then, with speed that rivalled Sonic, it sped past the girls and aimed for the robots. They tried to shoot at whatever it was but it was all in vain as the figure ripped straight through them. After the carnage was over, the figure turned to face the girls. Both were equally terrified. This thing had cold eyes that could pierce anyone's soul.

Aqua stood up to the figure. "W-who are you?" she stuttered, showing signs of weakness.

The figure pulled its claw back as it spoke. "Surprised you've never heard of me. I'm Metal Sonic and I'll be taking that emerald!"

Metal threw his hand forward and fired a bolt of lightning at Cosmo. She managed to jump out of the way, but was knocked over.

Aqua was afraid of lightning so she couldn't do anything. She then remembered Tails saying something about a communicator he built into the tracker. As she activated it, she ran for Cosmo, grabbed her by the hand and ran before another blast could hit them. She took off in the direction of the city and spoke into the tracker.

"Guys, come in!" she yelled. She got Silver's voice.

"Aqua, this better be important. Me and Blaze were enjoying ourselves".

"Oh, don't be dirty!"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Look, it doesn't matter. This thing called Metal Sonic is after me and a friend of mine called Cosmo. She's got an emerald but we won't if he gets us!"

Silver replied with a quick "We're on our way!"

As Silver hung up, he ran to Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Blaze.

"Guys, Metal's back and he's attacking Aqua!"

"What are we waiting for?" Blaze cried.

As they left the castle, Sonic asked "Where is she?"

"I think she's approaching the city. She said a friend of hers had an emerald. She's called Cosmo or something."

Sonic, Tails and Shadow came to a sudden stop.

Tails spoke first. "What did you say?"

* * *

Back with the girls, Aqua had tried running as fast as she could but Metal had managed to pin her down. Cosmo was further off, recoiling in horror.

Metal threw Aqua in Cosmo's direction and advanced on them. "Give me the Chaos Emerald!" he demanded.

"Never!" Cosmo cried.

Metal was getting fed up and prepared a final attack until he heard a voice.

"Hey, Metal! Pick on someone your own size!"

The robot turned to see Sonic.

"SONIC!" both girls cried, before looking at each other.

"So, we meet once more. You're not going to go crazy again are you?" Metal asked.

"No. But I'm still gonna turn you into scrap metal!"

Sonic spun towards Metal, knocking him backwards into the sand. Silver and Blaze ran up to Aqua to make sure she was OK. Shadow and Tails were about to join them until they saw Sonic being sent in there direction. They both ducked and saw that Metal was about to attack Cosmo. Silver and Blaze stood in his way but he was too fast. He grabbed them both by their necks and threw them behind him. Aqua was still weak and couldn't do anything. Cosmo closed her eyes and waited for the outcome but she heard Shadow yell "Stay away from her!"

The black hedgehog kicked Metal across the face and began to punch him repeatedly while still in the air. Metal grabbed his leg and began to electrocute him. Thankfully, Sonic came back and kicked Metal in the face, releasing Shadow. Getting even more annoyed, Metal fired another blast of electricity. Silver jumped back into the fray and put up a shield to reflect the attack back. Unfortunately, Metal knocked the blast away and it went straight for Cosmo. Before it could connect, Tails picked her up and flew off.

Cosmo looked at her saviour and was shocked at who it was. "Tails!"

The young fox smiled back. "It's good to see you too."

In their moment of distraction, Metal jumped and prepared to slash Cosmo, but Tails saw this and dropped her, taking the attack. He fell to the ground with two marks across his face. Cosmo screamed and Metal turned.

"Oh, they'll heal. Now, about that emerald". Before he could make a move, Sonic spun into his back and knocked him forward, face first into a rock. With a huge dent in his face, Metal was beyond angry. Charging up all his energy, he fired one huge blast at Sonic. It was coming too fast for Sonic to dodge but to his surprise, a wall of vines appeared taking the attack.

Being equally surprised, Metal turned to see the emerald that Cosmo was holding glowing. She's using the emerald's powers, he thought.

Cosmo, realising what she'd done, decided to try it again. Suddenly, a huge vine shot out of the ground and began to wrap around Metal, crushing him. Realising there was no way he could win; Metal used Chaos Control and teleported away.

Sonic ran up to Tails to make sure he was OK.

"I'm fine, Sonic. I'm sure these cuts'll heal". He then turned to Cosmo. He didn't know how it happened but he didn't care. She was back. He ran to her as did she. She even through the emerald to Aqua. The two began to embrace each other. Sonic and Shadow smiled at each other, knowing all about the chemistry they had.

Tails was the first to speak after their long hug.

"How did you come back?" he asked.

"That emerald crashed into the capsule you put me in. I'm guessing it reacted with my remains to bring me back, since Sonic and Shadow managed to bring a seed back after using Chaos Regeneration" she explained.

Tails was surprised by this outcome but was still too happy to care. He then cleared his throat.

"Uh, Cosmo. There's something I should've said before I shot you. I just anted to say that…"

He was cut off when Cosmo brought her lips to his. Instead of reeling back in shock, he went with the flow and returned it. The others just stood there and smiled. Shadow, meanwhile, as thinking "Is this how Elise feels when she's with Sonic? She'd better say something soon".

**Renewed love, eh? Next time: a new character appears. Friend or foe? Well, that's for you to decide. If you want an OC in my next chapter, send me their details like name, age, species, description, personality, powers, weaknesses and anything else you think I should know. The one I like the best will appear. Poll closes on 25****th**** October!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Before I start, I just need to answer a few questions for Akriloth Warrior, since he doesn't have the option to PM. First off, yes. There will be ShadowXRouge in this story. Secondly, Strike and Aqua are the only OCs of mine that'll appear and finally, yes. Strike is coming back. I'd also like to say that Chrono is property of DarkspineSilver92. I hope he enjoys it as much as the rest of you.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 18: Chrono Trigger

Silver was reading a book when Cream came up to him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Silver?" she asked.

Silver looked up to face the young rabbit.

"Yes, Cream?"

"Can you tell me what the future is like?"

"Of course" Silver replied. "For starters, it's much more advanced than this time line but the sky's as blue as ever. And the sun's constantly shining. Sure, you get the odd rainstorm here and there, but overall, it's almost like a paradise."

* * *

Now, let's fast forward 200 years. Imagine that black clouds begin to block out the sun, fires begin starting for no reason and shadows begin to attack the helpless. Buildings are half destroyed and everyone is living in fear as flames and darkness begin to consume the world. This was the future.

In the centre of one of the most well known cities in the world, was the GUE base. Originally called GUN, these agents were at constant work to save the world. They had come across an ancient carving that foretold a prophecy. It was translated as:

"When the purest light and the wind meet, darkness will be reborn. If this happens, the wind shall stop blowing".

They had only recently reached a conclusion on what to do, so they called in their highest ranking agent. He was a tanuki (cross between a dog and raccoon) with dark grey fur and heavy black marks around his dark blue eyes. His head fur was put in tight spike like pieces that angle straight downwards. He had sharp, acute ears and black fur hanging from his chin. He also had a black muzzle and two fangs sticking out of his mouth, as well as a bronze locket around his neck. It was a temporal clock that can tell disturbances in the area. Nobody knew what was on the inside.

He wore a long, black open jacket with the bottom reaching his grey boots, which had yellow lines around the edges and a yellow triangle pointing towards his leg from the end of it. His name was Chrono!

"What did you call me for?" he asked the commander.

"Chrono. We think we've found a way of saving the world. We'll need to change the past and since you are an expert on time…" the commander began to say before Chrono interrupted him.

"You want me to go back in time and do something that'll change the future" he finished.

"Exactly. Here's what we need you to do" the commander explained, handing Chrono a photo.

"We need you to hunt that guy down and kill him."

"What's his name?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog!"

* * *

Back in the present, Sonic and co. had picked up a Chaos Emerald somewhere outside of Soleanna. At the moment, Sonic, Silver, Elise, Tails and Cosmo were searching the forest (not Tropical Jungle, the bit outside that). So far, they hadn't been doing well. Tails' tracker kept leading them all over the place. They stopped in a clearing to think about the situation.

"OK. Let's think this through" Sonic said. "Tails, what is going on with your tracker?"

"I have no idea. It just makes us go round in circles" Tails explained.

"Maybe it's broken or something" suggested Silver.

"I'm pretty sure Tails would know if it was broken or not" Cosmo replied, clearly defending Tails, causing him to blush.

"Well, whatever it is, it's making my head hurt" Sonic said.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the shadows of the trees, two people were watching them.

"There, the blue one. That's Sonic" the first one said.

"Right" the second one said. "I'll be sure to make it quick."

* * *

Back with the heroes, Tails was trying to find a way of focusing the tracker on the emerald but it was to no avail. Elise lay on the grass as she waited for something to happen. Looking up, she noticed how blue the sky was. She liked how blue it was. It reminded her of Sonic. Suddenly, a vision came to her. The sky was pitch black. Someone was floating in the air and was surrounded by seven different lights. He then became engulfed with flames before exploding in a flash of purple light.

She was brought back to reality by Sonic.

"Elise, look out!"

Jumping to her feet, Elise saw Eggman in his chair.

"Eggman, what do you want now?" she demanded.

"Just wondering what you think of my goose chase" he responded.

"What?" Silver asked. "You tricked us into coming out here?"

"Exactly. I was able to make myself a fake emerald and make it's energy go all over the place so you couldn't pinpoint its exact location" the devious doctor explained, chuckling as he did so.

"Why'd you bring us out here, Eggman?" Cosmo asked, causing Eggman to nearly fall out of his chair.

"Cosmo?! You're alive?" he asked.

The seedrian nodded. "I hope you're not causing trouble".

"Sorry, but with the Metarex out of the way, I can conquer the planet! And the reason I brought you here was so I can introduce you to a new friend of mine."

After he said that, the second figure jumped in front of them.

"Everyone, meet Chrono the Tanuki!"

Chrono narrowed his eyes as he saw Sonic.

"Sonic the Hedgehog. As an agent of GUE, I hereby sentence you to death!" he yelled.

Sonic was dumbstruck. Who was this guy? What was GUE? That didn't matter at the moment as Chrono had pulled out a claymore with spiked blue blades attached to the base with a yellow spiked end and a yellow hilt.

Chrono moved first but Sonic back flipped and zoomed towards the tanuki and kicked him in the chest. Chrono staggered back but it seemed to have no effect on him. Sonic ran at him again, but Chrono's eyes did something weird.

"Time Foresee!"

Chrono then saw Sonic about to punch him, despite the fact Sonic wasn't near him yet. As Sonic closed in, Chrono yelled "Time Reversal!"

Suddenly, he blocked the punch and brought his claymore down on Sonic. The blue hero cried in pain. He'd never felt his kind of agony before. Chrono then swung his claymore round and struck Sonic with it again, sending him sprawling across the ground. Sonic could barely stand and his stomach was seizing up in pain.

Chrono smiled a toothy grin, thinking it was too easy. The others were too awestruck by his power.

"Wow, I had no idea he was _this_ powerful!" exclaimed Eggman.

"If we don't do something, Sonic'll be killed!" Tails yelled.

Elise clasped her hands in prayer. She'd seen Sonic get out of many a situation but this Chrono was far too powerful for Sonic too handle. Silver on the other hand was observing Chrono carefully. He noticed that Chrono seemed to have foreseen Sonic's attack and then counter it. He also realised that the tanuki was breathing heavily.

"He can't be tired already" he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Chrono saw Sonic try to stand up.

"Better end it now, before I tire myself out" he said to himself.

He got into a weird pose before crying "Time Booster!"

He instantly vanished. Sonic tried looking for him but he suddenly realised that Chrono was behind him. Before he could react, Chrono swept past him several times at amazing speed, whacking him with his claymore each time. Sonic couldn't take it anymore. He collapsed on the ground, unable to move.

Chrono stood above him, raising his claymore. "This ends now!"

"For you!"

Turning, Chrono saw Silver flying towards him. The white hedgehog punched him in the face, sending him flying. Silver then picked up several nearby rocks and threw them all at the tanuki. Chrono was too tired to dodge them and was hit by the full barrage. Silver then picked him up and threw him towards the forest before flying after him.

"How did Silver do that so easily?" Cosmo asked. Tails shrugged as they ran to help Sonic while Eggman flew off. He knew Silver was tough and didn't want to be captured if Chrono lost.

* * *

Speak of the devil, he was being held in the air by Silver. He tried using one of his moves but he couldn't move.

"OK, Chrono. Start talking. Why are you trying to kill Sonic?" Silver demanded.

"To save the future. If he lives, the future will be engulfed by flames and darkness."

"The future? I come from there but it was fine when I left it" Silver responded, slightly puzzled.

"It's true. If you care so much about the future, you'll let me kill him" Chrono said.

"Look. You have time powers right? I guessed that during the battle. Plus, I realized that with every move, you got weaker. That's how I got you like this. Anyway, can you se the future?"

Chrono nodded.

"Then look at it if you killed Sonic".

Since he was in no position to fight, Chrono did so. Silver released his grip a bit to allow him but not so much that he could escape. Chrono closed his eyes and focused all his thoughts on Sonic's death. Then it came to him. The future was no different.

Opening his eyes, he looked at Silver.

"Well?" the hedgehog questioned.

"You're right. If I kill Sonic, the prophecy will be fulfilled."

"Prophecy?" Silver asked but was ignored.

"But what if I don't kill Sonic?" Chrono asked no one in particular. This time, he focused on Sonic being alive but when he looked into the future, there was nothing. Just blackness.

Now the tanuki was even more confused. "I have to go" he said quickly, before suddenly vanishing. This left Silver even more puzzled. What prophecy? What had Chrono seen if Sonic lived? He decided to dwell on it later. Right now, Sonic was in desperate need of a hospital, so he ran back to join his friends.

* * *

Back in the future, Chrono had just arrived. The first thing he saw as an angry commander.

"What happened? You haven't done the job!"

"Sir, I don't think killing Sonic is the answer. I was shown that Sonic's death would lead to the prophecy's fulfilment. I should've checked before I went back. I feel so stupid!"

The commander was looking confused. "But if Sonic's not responsible, what is?"

Chrono then reached a decision.

"Sir, I'd like to analyze the tablet with the prophecy on it. I think with a bit more research, we can find the answer!"

The commander was hesitant but reluctantly agreed. As Chrono left for the lab, he thought to himself "Sonic the Hedgehog. You might just be our last hope."


	19. Chapter 19

**R&R! Also, don't accuse me of stealing Babylon Sky Hawk's idea. Ask him if you want proof.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 19: Battle on the High Seas Part 1: Home

After the sound beating Sonic took from the mysterious Chrono, the team had been trying to think of a way for him to feel better. Smit came up with the idea of taking Sonic on a cruise ship. It would be touring a whole host of islands nearby and a holiday was something the hero deserved. Unfortunately, when it came to the time of actually going, they had a bit of a problem.

* * *

"I'M NOT GOING ON THAT SHIP!"

Sonic was holding on to a nearby lamppost for dear life while Knuckles, Shadow and Silver were trying to pry him off.

"Sonic, you're not going to fall over the side and drown. There are guard rails to stop that happening" Shadow was trying to explain but Sonic wasn't listening. Amy got tired of waiting and decided to take over.

"Sonic. You're going on that ship" she said, holding her hammer. Sonic knew when he was beat. Even he wasn't stupid enough to argue with Amy.

Once Sonic was onboard, the ship set sail. Smit stayed on the docks to wave goodbye as the ferry set out into the ocean.

* * *

For most of the morning, everyone was doing their own thing. Tails and Cosmo were chatting with Silver and Blaze, Aqua and Rouge were in the onboard pool, Shadow and Knuckles were playing table tennis, with Cream refereeing and Omega keeping count of the scores. This left Sonic, Amy and Elise.

The girls were looking out to the ocean, admiring how it sparkled while Sonic just stood there, getting nervous. Elise was trying not to laugh. She never imagined Sonic being afraid of water. Well, nobody's perfect she thought.

Her thoughts were broken when the ship suddenly stopped. The Sonic Team regrouped on the bridge, getting ready for anything while the other guests looked confused.

The captain's voice was then heard over the intercom. "We're sorry for the sudden stop but another ship has approached. We're not sure what it is but we've sent men to investigate."

Suddenly, a bunch of animaloids jumped over the sides, brandishing cutlasses and some carrying guns. The way they were dressed sent one word through everyone's heads, pirates!

The other guests screamed as they found themselves surrounded by them but the Sonic Heroes kept a steady head.

"Guys, get ready to fight!" said Sonic.

The others nodded but then a voice was heard.

"If I was ye, I wouldn't do that!"

Following the voice, they saw a tall, well built, crocodile, wearing typical pirate's uniform, a pirate hat with skull and crossbones on it, and an eye patch over his left eye. He advanced towards the heroes.

"As the Princess of Soleanna, I demand to know your identity!" ordered Elise.

The croc stood up straight as he spoke. "I'm Captain Rotagilla, scourge of the seven seas and captain of the most cutthroat pirates ever, the Croc Crew!"

"Pretty lousy name" mocked Blaze.

"Well, we had to pick a name from a hat so what did you expect" the captain shrugged. "Anyway, you'll be surrendering yourselves if you don't want to see any of these innocent people hurt."

He was right. The pirates had the guests captured. One swift movement and it was the end for any of them. Surprisingly, Aqua stepped up.

"So what if you have an advantage over us?"

This shocked everyone. Aqua was normally nervous when around strangers.

"We're heroes, you know. And heroes always win. Especially since we've got Sonic the Hedgehog! Ain't that right, Sonic?"

Sonic didn't answer. He was staring at Rotagilla, looking deadly serious and angry at the same time. Upon hearing Sonic's name, the captain tilted his head to one side.

"Did you say Sonic the Hedgehog?" he asked. He turned his head so he could see Sonic. As soon as he saw the blue hero, he broke into a fit of laughter.

"Looky here, boys! It _is_ Sonic the Hedgehog!" he called to his fellow pirates.

"Sonic? That wimp!"

"The little blue cry-baby?"

Soon, all the pirates were laughing their heads off. Some had even fallen on the floor. Meanwhile, the heroes were staring at Sonic. Did he know them?

Without warning, Sonic ran straight at Rotagilla. The captain was fast though and dodged in the nick of time. Then, two burly pirates grabbed Sonic by the arms, so he couldn't lash out. Rotagilla walked up to him.

"Now that wasn't very smart, was it? Just like your father" he smirked.

Sonic spat at the pirate. "Shut up. Now let me go so I can slit your throat!" he threatened.

The others were shocked. Sonic was only this vicious when he was Dark Sonic. But his fur wasn't black. It was as blue as ever.

Rotagilla wiped the spit off his face and stared at Sonic angrily. "Looks like we need to teach you a lesson."

* * *

Several minutes later, the ship had been looted and Sonic and co. were tied up in a huge net, which was teetering over the side of the ship.

"Great. Thanks a lot, Sonic. Now we're gonna drown" Knuckles said, but Sonic wasn't listening. He was still giving Rotagilla a venomous look.

"Now, you're probably gonna drown but if you're really unlucky, the sharks'll get ya! Farewell!" he told them before kicking the net off the side. For Sonic, everything went black.

* * *

"Sonic! Wake up!"

"He's not moving!"

"Someone give him CPR!"

"I'll do it!"

After hearing Amy say that, Sonic jumped up.

"Oh, thank God, you're alive!" said Silver.

"Yeah, we were getting worried" Rouge explained.

Sonic looked about. They seemed to be on a beach. "How did we get here?" he asked.

Aqua spoke up. "After we got pushed off the boat, I was able to form a bubble big enough for us to float. It also supplied us with oxygen. We saw the pirates sail off so we decided to chase after them. We noticed you had been knocked out so he stopped of here to see if you were alive".

Sonic took all of this in. He started to look at his surroundings. He noticed that there was a town near the beach. There was a big hill on the other side of the island with a castle on it. One look at that castle made Sonic realize where they were.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that Shadow as shaking him.

"Sonic? We need to ask you something. You seemed to know the captain of those pirates and he seemed to know you. Mind explaining?" he asked.

Sonic didn't reply. Instead he ran off.

"Sonic!" Amy cried after him. It was pointless. He was already out of earshot.

"What's wrong with him?" Tails asked.

"Maybe we should give him some time to think" Elise said. "He's probably still shocked from falling into the water."

The others nodded and decided to find out where they were.

* * *

The town was very busy. Stalls were everywhere and people were buying, selling or having general chitchat. Little children were running about playing together. Seemed normal for a place like this but one thing everyone noticed was that all the inhabitants were animaloids. Because of this, people stopped to stare at Elise. This made her feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, her friends were there to look after her.

As they were walking around, they heard someone's voice. They turned to see a tall, blue hedgehog with ruffled fur, a black leather jacket, white gloves, black jeans and red trainers and a smaller purple hedgehog with a blue headband, hair that fell back, white shoes and a white dress similar to Amy's.

"And I'll have that and that and that and that!" the purple one said as she grabbed things off the stall.

The stall keeper stared at the number of stuff she was grabbing. "Uh, that's completely free" he said.

The blue one shook his head. "No, we'll pay the full price". He reached into his quills and pulled out a wallet. He paid the shop keeper and bid him goodbye.

"Sheesh, Axel. Why did you pay him?" the purple one asked.

"Just because we're royalty doesn't mean we should get things for free. We need to be just" the one called Axel said. He stopped when he saw Elise.

Knuckles stepped up. "Hey, quit staring!"

"Sorry. We just don't get many humans in this island" Axel apologized.

"Well, maybe you can tell us what this island is?" Shadow asked.

"You're on Southern Island. Ruled by Queen Aleena!" the purple one said, looking quite smug.

"And who are you two?" Blaze asked.

"I'm Prince Axel, but just call me Axel and this is my little sister, Sally" Axel explained. "Who are you guys?"

Once the introductions were over, Axel asked them how they wound up on the island, which they explained in the shortest possible manner. After they had finished, Axel looked grave.

"The Croc Crew. We know them. They're big trouble and you guys are lucky to be alive" he explained.

"Do you think they'll come here?" asked Aqua.

"Most probably. We better tell my mum, Queen Aleena. If I know her, she's probably near the docks."

So, the group headed off for the docks.

* * *

Upon reaching it, they realized no one was there.

"That's weird. My mum's usually…" Axel began to say when they heard a cry.

"Axel! Sally!"

Before any of the heroes could do anything, a bunch of pirates appeared out of nowhere, holding cutlasses and guns. The leader, a black wolf, who was clearly a high ranking subordinate to Rotagilla, was holding a tall purple hedgehog with flowing hair in a white dress hostage.

"Surrender yourselves, unless you want this wench hurt in any form" the leader threatened.

Axel snarled but did nothing. "Are we ever gonna get to beat these pirates up?" Rouge moaned.

"Shut up!" the leader yelled.

Then, a nearby pirate ship, which the pirates must've come on, fired a cannonball which left a smoking crater in the ground. This was a clear sign that these pirates were not to be messed with.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic was at the entrance to the castle. He was slightly nervous. He was about to knock on the door when he heard the explosion from the docks. Knowing it was trouble, he ran straight towards it.

The pirates were laughing evilly as the heroes found themselves back against a wall. They could probably have beaten them up but Aleena's life was at risk. Cream held onto Elise for safety but in reality, Elise was just as scared as she was. One of the pirates came up to her.

"Got anything to say before we tie you up?" he asked.

Elise looked over his shoulder and smiled at what she saw.

"Yeah, turn around."

Turning, the pirate saw Sonic running straight at him and got punched in the face. The leader became distracted at Sonic's sudden appearance, giving Shadow a chance to Chaos Control behind him and kicks him in the back. Aleena ran towards Axel and Sally.

"Mum, you're okay" Axel sighed. Aleena nodded as she hugged both of them. One of the pirates ran at them but Sonic jumped in the way, surprising all three of them.

Sonic spinned right into the pirate's gut, knocking him into another group of them. They fell over like bowling pins. "Strike!" Sonic cried.

"Awful, Sonic" Silver yelled, as he picked one up and threw him into the ship, knocking the one who fired the cannon out.

Shadow was continuously teleporting, hitting pirates over the head, before eventually stopping after he'd knocked them out.

Aqua was shooting water at them but it didn't seem to do anything. As they got closer, she fired bubbles from her hand which blinded the pirates and allowed Rouge to kick them.

Amy just stood there with her hammer, daring any of them to come near her. They didn't.

Omega did exactly the same thing, only he shot at their weapons, causing them to drop them.

Blaze had lit her claws up and was setting all the pirates' clothes alight. Since they were stained with rum, they caught fire easily.

The leader regained consciousness and ordered them to retreat but Sonic wasn't going to let them get away so easily. He began to run around them, lifting them up into the air. They flew through the air before eventually crashing onto their boat. They sailed away as fast as they could.

Sonic glared after them. "They'll be back" he said.

"It's a good thing you got here in time, Sonic" Tails said, as he, Cream, Cosmo and Elise rejoined them, having taken cover with the others.

"By the way, why'd you run off?" questioned Shadow.

Sonic decided to tell them.

"Well…" he began to say before getting tackled to the ground by Sally, who proceeded to give him a spine-crushing hug.

"Oh, Sonic. I can't believe it's you!" she squealed.

"Air. Air!" Sonic gasped.

Sally let go while the others stood there in confusion. Axel and Aleena just stood there in shock, still!

Silver eventually spoke. "Uh, Sonic? How do you know Sally?" he asked.

Sonic sighed. "I was hoping I'd never have to tell you guys about this. This is the island I was born on."

"What?" everyone gasped.

"And that's not the end of it" Sonic continued. "The reason I know Sally is because…" he paused. It was so hard to actually say it. Sally eventually blurted the rest of his sentence out.

"I'm his sister."

Everyone was even more shocked. They looked at Sonic, then to Axel and Aleena, then back to Sonic.

"But then that means…" Amy started but Aleena finished it off.

"He's my son. Prince Sonic."

**Dun dun duuuuuun! Probably saw it coming, didn't you? Next time, more of Sonic's past revealed!**


	20. Chapter 20

**I understand that a few thought the last chapter was unoriginal, which I agree with, but you'll see why I bothered doing it by the end. Plus, I wanted to include Sonic's past. Anyway, here goes nothing!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 20: Battle on the High Seas Part 2: Preparations

Things were pretty hectic for the Sonic Heroes. In the space of one morning, they had been thrown off a cruise ship by pirates, ended up on a place called Southern Island, met the prince and princess, fought of some more pirates, rescued the queen and realised that Sonic was a prince as well!

After the fight that happened in the last chapter, the group decided to head for the castle, where Sonic would explain everything to them. Upon entering, the team were stunned by how big the castle was. Elise was the most impressed. She always thought her castle was amazing but after seeing Aleena's, she immediately changed her mind.

The team sat in the lounge. Sonic was on one sofa, as well as Aleena, Axel and Sally. The rest of the Sonic Heroes spread themselves out among the other sofas and chairs facing Sonic.

Shadow spoke first. "OK, would you mind answering our questions now? I'll go first. Why did you not mention that you were prince of this island?"

Sonic shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal" he replied, simply.

"Are you kidding?" asked Rouge. "That's a really big deal!"

"I just didn't know how you would react" Sonic said.

Tails began to speak. "Sonic, Blaze and Elise are royalty too. You should've known we wouldn't immediately start bowing" he explained.

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. "That wasn't the only reason" he sighed.

The others looked at each other.

"Then what was the other reason?" asked Amy.

"Did it have something to do with those pirates?" Silver questioned. "Maybe even Rotagilla?"

At the sound of the captain's name, Sonic's fists clenched. Aleena tried calming him down.

"Sonic, relax. Don't let him get to you" she said, soothingly. Sonic relaxed but kept quiet.

Aleena turned to the others. "I suppose I should explain. It all started ten years ago."

* * *

The scene shifts to ten years earlier. The island didn't look much different but something obviously was. In the castle, a five year old Sonic was running all over the place while a six year old Axel tried catching him. A four year old Sally just watched and giggled at Axel's failed attempts. When Axel tripped, Sonic skidded to a stop and blew a raspberry at him.

"You can't catch me" he mocked. Suddenly, something swept past him with amazing speed. Before he could do anything, Sonic found himself in the arms of an adult male hedgehog with blue fur. He wore a red robe, black clothes and wore a crown on his head. He also wore blue versions of Sonic's shoes and had white gloves that, on the back (not the palm bit), bore the royal symbol. A blue hedgehog's head (think the Sonic Team logo). Aleena explained that this was Jules the Hedgehog, king of Southern Island and Sonic's dad.

"It was a peaceful time back then" Aleena narrated. "We were all happy and Sonic was very enthusiastic about becoming king one day. But, something happened."

* * *

Suddenly, the scene switches to night and in the town, pirates were ransacking houses, injuring the innocent and setting things on fire. Watching all this was Rotagilla, with an evil smirk on his face. The royal soldiers were fighting them off but neither side was winning.

In the castle, Jules had grabbed a sword and was leaving the castle. He kissed his wife on the cheek and hugged all three of his kids before setting off. Hours seemed to pass for the royal family before Sonic got bored. The young hedgehog sneaked out of the castle and ran off; wanting to see what was going on.

He ran to a cliffside and saw his dad and Rotagilla having a sword fight. Sonic watched in awe as he saw his dad get the upper hand on his scaly opponent. Jules pushed Rotagilla back, almost causing him to fall over. Sonic cheered, which grabbed Jules' attention. In his moment of distraction, Rotagilla came back and drew his sword back before thrusting it forward. Jules' eyes widened as he looked down and saw Rotagilla's blade deep in his stomach. The captain pulled the sword out and smirked. He looked back to the town and saw his men retreating.

"I've got what I came for. Now, to make sure you don't stop me…"

Rotagilla then kicked the weakened king off the cliffside. Sonic could only stare as he saw his father fall to his death. He heard a splash and ran down to where Jules landed. He looked for any sign that his father may be alive but all he got was his crown, drifting along the surface. Sonic grabbed it as it came towards the water's edge and stared at it. All he could do was close his eyes and let the tears come.

* * *

The scene shifts back to the present day. The team was looking upset. Amy, Cream, Aqua and Cosmo were crying. Knuckles, Silver, Shadow, Rouge and Blaze had their heads down. Omega didn't seem fazed but he did look a bit downcast for a robot and Elise just looked distraught.

"That's awful" Elise whispered.

"Indeed" Axel answered. "I'm guessing Sonic blames himself for Dad's death" he continued.

"Oh, Sonic. It wasn't your fault" Sally comforted her brother but Sonic wouldn't take it.

"It was my fault. If I hadn't had chased after him, he fight have lived."

He turned back to his teammates. "That day, I realised how greedy people could be. So, I decided to make sure that villains got what they deserved. A couple of days after Dad's funeral, I left a note explaining my reasons, got a boat and left the island, with no intention of going back" he explained.

The others looked at each other.

"Sonic," began Amy. "We'll help you beat that pirate and avenge your dad!"

The others nodded with agreement. Sonic smiled, glad to see his friends were still behind him

"Thanks guys."

"So, do we have a plan?" asked Rouge.

Cosmo turned to Aleena. "Your majesty. You mentioned something about Rotagilla taking something. What was that?"

Axel decided to explain. "On this island, we had a jewelled sceptre that…"

He was interrupted by Blaze. "A jewelled sceptre? That sounds like the one from my world!"

Sonic nodded. "It is similar by appearance but it is different. Our sceptre kept the island safe from attack. This island was well known for being impenetrable so that's why other pirates kept at bay."

"So how did the Croc Crew get past it?" Aqua asked.

"They just happened to have the Chaos Emeralds, which neutralized it" Sonic said.

"What, all seven?" Shadow asked.

Sonic nodded again. "With that sceptre, they plan to take over the island. The only reason Rotagilla didn't take over the island there and then was because he needed a bigger army. It's taken him ten years to build it, which is long enough to get other pirates to join him."

Knuckles bashed his namesakes. "Well, we'll just have to steal your sceptre back and give that scaly creep a knuckle-sandwich!"

"Very clever, Knuckles" Rouge mocked as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, enough standing around" Axel said. "Let's get to work!"

* * *

So, the team managed to form a plan. They'd wait until Rotagilla came to them. Then, they would destroy all of the ships with their cannons, except Rotagilla's. They would storm the ship, capture Rotagilla and reclaim the jewelled sceptre. But first, they'd have to prepare. So, some of the team went all over the island, either explaining the plan to the citizens and soldiers or getting things necessary for defeating the Croc Crew. Some of the team got to explore the island and take in a bit of sightseeing. This was mostly the girls.

Elise, Shadow, Rouge and Amy had come across a fortune teller. Aleena had explained that all of her predictions have come true, so they decided to check it out.

As they entered the purple tent, they saw an orange cat wearing a purple cloak with a hood, staring at a crystal ball on the table in front of her.

"Greetings, Princess Elise. And you too, Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat. I am the Oracle" she said. This freaked the others out.

"I have foreseen your arrival and I believe you want to see if what you've heard is true. So, take your place in front of me and we'll see what the crystal ball holds for you" the mysterious cat said.

Amy decided to go first. She sat opposite the Oracle, and they gazed into the ball. To Amy, all she could see was mist but the Oracle seemed to actually see something.

"Hmmm. I'm getting something. Yes, I see you in the future" the Oracle explained. "You seem to be living happily. You're holding hands with the one you love."

Amy jumped up squealing. "I'm holding hands with Sonic?" she screamed.

"I'm not sure if it is the prince or not. But it is definitely the one you truly love. That is all I can say."

Amy seemed a bit disappointed that the person in the ball wasn't definitely Sonic, but she held onto her hopes. Elise began to think. She wondered what her future would be like. The Oracle seemed to sense this and offered her Amy's seat.

Elise sat down and stared into the ball as did the Oracle. The cat had her eyes closed and was trying to focus on something. She then stopped moving. Shadow and Rouge looked at each other in confusion as Elise tried to see if the fortune teller was alright.

"Excuse me. Are you all right?" she asked, touching the Oracle's paw. Suddenly, the cat sprang up, with a look of fear in her eyes. She began to scream and run all around the tent as the others stayed back, wondering what was happening.

Then the Oracle began to speak. "The future, it's horrible. All I see is death. Destruction and death. The world, it's engulfed in flames and darkness. It's ending!"

Shadow tried to get some sense. "What are you talking about?"

"The prophecy. If it's fulfilled we're all doomed!"

"Prophecy? What the hell are you talking about?" Shadow demanded.

"I can only tell you this. Beware the shadows. Beware the shadow!

BEWARE SHADOW!" Suddenly, she fainted.

* * *

Elsewhere, Cream, Aqua and Cosmo were checking out the stalls and seeing what was for sale. What they had seen so far they liked. Aqua had bought a pair of new shoes and was just picking up the box that they were in.

"These will do nicely" she said to herself. As she turned, she bumped into someone and fell backwards. She looked up and saw opposite her, rubbing his head, was a yellow hedgehog with black highlights in his quills, blue shoes and a lightning pendant around his neck. She'd never seen him before and immediately became embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said.

"No, it's my fault. I should've looked where I was going" the hedgehog responded. "Here, let me get those for you."

The hedgehog made a grab for the box but so did Aqua and they found their hands touching. They both blushed and immediately pulled their hands back. Cream and Cosmo had just realized their friend had fallen and went to help her. Cream then recognized the other hedgehog.

"Mr. Strike?"

Strike noticed Cream. "Oh, hey there. I hope you're still not mad at me for what happened before."

"Oh, it's OK. Sonic explained things to us. By the way, this is Cosmo and Aqua" Cream introduced.

Cosmo bowed while Aqua muttered a hello. Her face was still red.

Strike then asked "What are you guys doing here, anyway?" he asked.

The trio explained how they wound up there and their plan against the Croc Crew. Strike nodded and said "I'll help, too. I need to make amends for attacking you. Plus, this is my home, too. And I'm not going to let those pirates take it!"

So, Strike and the girls went off to find Sonic and the others.

* * *

The rest of the team were at the docks, getting the cannons ready for the attack. Elise's group had just returned and explained what happened with the Oracle. Shadow didn't speak at all.

Aleena couldn't suggest why that happened. Sally said to ignore her.

"It could've been a fluke. Maybe old age is getting to her" she suggested.

Elise nodded but wasn't so sure. She then noticed the others arrive.

"Hey, here come the others" she said.

Sonic looked and saw Strike waving at them. Sonic waved back, surprised to see his old friend here. Strike ran up to him and was about to say hi when he noticed Aleena, Axel and Sally staring at him. Aleena's and sally's looks were of pure shock but Axel looked very angry.

"YOU! I told you never to come back!" he yelled at the yellow hedgehog.

Sonic and the others were surprised. Did Strike know them?

"I'm sorry. I just thought I might be able to get some info about my brother and…" Strike began to say but Axel cut him off.

"I told you to not go looking for him. You stay well away from him and us!" Axel yelled again.

"Look, I don't see why you can't accept what happened. Your mother and sister can so why can't you?"

"Because you're an abomination!"

"Don't I have some sort of right? I mean Jules…"

"Don't dare mention his name!"

"Why? He's just as much my dad as he is yours!"

At this, time seemed to have stopped, especially for Sonic. All he could was stare at Strike and say "You're my brother?"

**Another cliffhanger! Next time, final part! Not last chapter though, just in case you get confused.**


	21. Chapter 21

**New chapter! R&R and be nice.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 21: Battle on the High Seas Part 3: Sonic's Revenge

Everything had gone completely still. Even the wind wasn't blowing. Everyone stood there motionless, waiting for something to break the silence. After for what seemed like forever, Sonic spoke again.

"You're my brother?"

Strike was also in shock. He walked closer to Sonic and looked at him. For a moment, a picture of Jules came to mind. Strike didn't know what to do next. He had found his brother after all these years but now that the time had come, he didn't know what to do.

He never got the chance. Before he could speak, Axel had grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him into a nearby wall.

"I'll say it again. Stay away from him!" he snarled.

"Why don't you make me?" Strike challenged.

Before either could make a move, Amy yelled "STOP!"

Everyone obeyed.

"Good" she said, calmly. "Now, how about we get a few answers, mostly for Sonic."

Sonic turned to Aleena and asked "Is Strike my brother?"

His mum nodded.

"How?"

Aleena sighed. She had hoped this would never happen.

"Sonic, before I tell you, I want you to know that your father loved you with all his heart. But, he wasn't perfect" she said.

Sonic didn't know what she was getting at, so she began to explain.

"A month or so after you were born, your father and I got into an argument. He had done some things with the royal treasury that I didn't agree with. Anyway, he stormed out of the castle. I had no idea what happened to him until the next morning. He came back, apologising for what he did and swore he'd always be truthful to me."

Sonic still looked confused. "So what if you had an argument. Everyone does" he said but Aleena was shaking her head.

"There's more to it. Several months later, an old beggar woman, who was also a hedgehog, came to the door, carrying a young yellow hedgehog. She said that it was Jules' son. He didn't deny it was his and said it must've happened after our argument. At first, I didn't think I could trust him again but we managed to stay together. As for the baby, we couldn't accept it and turned her away."

Sonic was even more speechless than before. His dad had cheated on his mum and, what's more, had an illegitimate child.

Strike decided to step in. "When my mum died, a year ago, I found out who my dad was and came to the castle. There, I met your mum and Sally and Axel. When they found out who I was, Axel told me to leave the island and never come back. Aleena and Sally didn't resent me, not blaming me for what happened and they told me I had another brother out there. That was all they would tell me, so I set sail looking for him, or should I say, you."

Now, Sonic understood. But he didn't know how to react.

Axel began to speak.

"Sonic. This guy isn't your brother. He's a mistake. He doesn't deserve to exist!" he yelled.

"Axel! Don't dare say that!" Aleena retaliated.

"Why not? He's no brother of mine and no brother of Sonic's. Ain't that right?" Axel turned to Sonic.

Sonic just stood there, not entirely sure what to say. Before he could, Omega began to yell.

"Pirates detected! Pirates detected!"

The team turned and saw a fleet of pirate ships approaching.

"OK, guys. We all know the plan" said Silver. "Let's get those cannons ready!"

* * *

Once the cannons were loaded, they began to fire. The ships were too slow to move out of the way and were so big, they were easy targets. Soon, only Rotagilla's ship remained.

As it got closer, Rotagilla fired his own cannons after turning the ship to the side. With no time to lose, Shadow used Chaos Control to take him, Sonic, Axel, Silver and Knuckles to the ship. The others stayed behind, wishing them luck. Strike, on the other hand, was in his own world. Did Sonic think he was an abomination too? Only one way to find out. While the others weren't looking, he jumped into the sea and began to swim towards the ship.

* * *

On said ship, Sonic and co. had just arrived and found themselves face-to-face with a huge amount of pirates. Behind them was Rotagilla, holding the Jewelled Sceptre in one hand and a sword in the other.

"Lads, take care of those bilge rats! Except for Sonic. He's mine!" he ordered.

As the team dispersed to fight the pirates, Sonic stood opposite Rotagilla. The captain smirked as he tossed Sonic the sword and pulled his own out.

"Let's see if you inherit your father's sword skills. Cos if you do, killing you will be easy" he mocked.

Sonic gritted his teeth and charged. Rotagilla swayed to the side and easily dodged the attack, before hitting Sonic in the back with the hilt. Sonic was knocked over but quickly got back up and made another dash. This time, Rotagilla blocked the attack and the two were pushing against each other. Sonic had both his hands on the sword but Rotagilla was using only one and was even yawning.

"This is too easy" he smiled. All Sonic could do was keep pushing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Strike had climbed onto the ship. Looking around, he saw Axel swiping his sword about, knocking pirates back. Silver was picking them up and throwing them at others. Knuckles was busy giving one a noogie. Shadow was throwing punches and kicks but he occasionally let his guard down and got hit. It looked as if he was put off by something.

Strike then turned and saw Sonic losing to Rotagilla. Sneaking up, he tried snatching the sceptre out of the croc's hands. Unfortunately, Rotagilla saw it coming and shoved Sonic back in time to spin around and kick Strike across the floor. Strike tried to get up but found Rotagilla's sword pointing at his throat.

"You mess with me, you end up dead! It's about time I got some young blood."

Before he could do anything though, Sonic kicked him in the side of the head, causing him to drop the sceptre which landed in Strike's hands. He looked at Sonic who held his hand out.

"Thanks" Strike said.

"Sure" Sonic replied with a smile, "What are brothers for?"

Strike smiled back and grabbed Sonic's hand. Once he was up, Rotagilla had stood again, with several mad marks on his face.

"Ready, bro?"

"Sure thing, bro?"

The two hedgehogs charged at the captain. Sonic thrust his sword out, which Rotagilla blocked. However, Strike had jumped into the air and brought his foot down on Rotagilla's head. With the croc distracted, Sonic began to spin in place. Strike filled his hand with electricity and zapped Sonic with it, causing Sonic to shoot into Rotagilla with even more speed, slamming him into the side of the ship. Rotagilla was in no fit to fight and Strike took his sword and threw it away.

"Please, don't kill me!" Rotagilla wimpered.

"I won't do that. That would be cowardly, your kind of cowardly. But I'll make sure you stay behind bars for life" Sonic smirked.

* * *

Several hours later, the sceptre had been returned, Rotagilla and his crew were behind bars and Sonic and co. were preparing to leave. Aleena had arranged a boat to take them back to Soleanna.

At the moment, Strike and Sonic were talking.

"Come on, Strike. We could use your help against Eggman" Sonic said.

"Sure. I've got nothing better to do. Plus, I need to pay Eggman back for what he got me to do" Strike smiled.

The brothers shook hands until Strike saw Aqua walking on to the boat. He waved to her but she immediately blushed and ran on to the boat. Strike was confused but walked onto the boat.

Before Sonic went on, he gave his family one last hug.

"I'll miss you guys. But I won't forget you" he said.

Aleena and Sally smiled and Axel pulled something out from behind his back.

"Here. Take this" he said, handing Sonic the yellow emerald. Sonic nodded his thanks and waved once more before getting onboard. However, Axel was busy thinking.

"Strike. You better not show up again. Sonic may accept you, but next time I see you, you will wish you'd never been born!"

* * *

Back on the boat, Sonic saw Shadow looking over the side. He seemed to be disturbed by something.

He went up to Elise and asked her what was wrong with him.

"Well, that Oracle woman said 'Beware Shadow'" she explained.

"You don't think Shadow thinks he's gonna do something bad?" Sonic asked.

Elise herself didn't know but decided not to dwell on it. Right now, they had to get back to Soleanna, with another emerald and teammate in tow.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hint of advice. Writers block and exams aren't a good mix. I've been having trouble trying to do this chapter and stopped trying to make it action packed and focused on the task at hand: ShadowXRouge. To be honest, I'm not impressed and to me, this is dissapointing. Give me your thoughts but in a nice way.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 22: Shadow's Realisation

After the Sonic Heroes returned to Soleanna, they were surprised that the city was fine. They found later from Smit that Eggman was too busy celebrating about getting hold of another Chaos Emerald, the red one. With Strike on the team, they planned their next move for one of the last two emeralds. Well, most of them were.

Shadow was the only one not paying attention. The same thing was in his mind, "Beware Shadow." He just didn't get it. Why would they have to beware him? He was one of the good guys, a top ranking GUN agent. It just didn't make sense.

Later that night, Shadow woke up sweating. He had just had the worst nightmare ever. He dreamt of Maria's death. He repeatedly saw her being shot and slumping to the ground as he was sent to Earth. As if that wasn't bad enough, the scene shifted to when he helped Black Doom almost conquer the planet. He may have defeated him but he had also killed several innocent people. He even made an attack on the President, who respected him. Shadow couldn't take it. He now knew what the Oracle meant. He was a monster. He had caused so many deaths, Maria's included.

He got up and went out into the night. He needed time to think. He looked about the city and saw how peaceful it was. That might not have been if he continued assisting Doom. The black hedgehog began to feel angry with himself. He had done good things but somehow, they didn't make up for all the bad things he had done.

He found himself on the edge of the pier, looking out into the ocean. Looking down into the blue, he realised something. He could easily jump in. And not resurface. Just one splash and that would be it. Before his thoughts could go anywhere else, he heard someone's voice. It was Rouge.

"Shadow, what are you doing?" she asked, concerned.

Shadow looked away. He contemplated for a while. Rouge was a close friend of his. He decided to trust her.

"The Oracle said 'Beware Shadow'. What if she meant me?"

Rouge scoffed. "Don't be silly, Shadow. You're a good person."

"But I'm not!" Shadow yelled. "I may have done good things but that doesn't make up for the bad things I've done! I caused Maria's death! I nearly turned every human on the planet into alien food! I've killed innocent humans who didn't deserve it!"

Shadow's sudden outburst caught Rouge by surprise. Shadow turned away and they stayed silent for several minutes.

"So why are you out here?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"I heard you leaving the castle, so I followed" Rouge explained. "I was worried."

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"Shadow. You may have done bad things but we all forgive you. The Commander, the President, Sonic and I'm sure Maria wouldn't blame you for what happened. You have friends here, Omega and I included" Rouge said, with a reassuring smile on her face.

Shadow was slightly shocked. Rouge was nice but not _this _nice. And that smile of hers. There was something he found about it but he couldn't think what.

He then said "But what if the Oracle's right? What if I am responsible for who knows what?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's enjoy the peace" Rouge smirked.

Shadow was confused about Rouge's sudden niceness. All of a sudden, a sort of desire came over him. The moon was bright and he realised how beautiful she was. He didn't know what came over him but he grabbed Rouge and began to kiss her. He had no control over it, he just couldn't resist. And Rouge didn't retaliate. She just went with the flow. She'd only ever dreamt this.

When they finally broke apart, Rouge said "Beware Shadow, huh? Yeah right."

Shadow smiled as they embraced again. Shadow's mind was at ease now, and it was all thanks to his team mate turned girlfriend. But someone was watching them. He smirked and said,

"Beware Shadow. More like beware me, Shadow the Hedgehog!"


	23. Chapter 23

**Those who saw this chapter coming give yourselves a pat on the back. This story is going to go on hiatus for a while so I can finsih off my other story first. Don't ask why, I just feel I should finish the one I started on first. Also, Chrono is property of DarkspineSilver92. R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 23: Opposites Attract

Word of Shadow and Rouge spread faster than wildfire. Sonic nearly broke into a fit of laughter once he found out. Shadow got him back by locking him in a room with Amy. Anyway, the romance was far from over.

* * *

It was a normal day in Soleanna. Yes, Eggman was attacking again. He had sent huge two legged mechs that looked a lot like the Bigfoot robots used by GUN. Sonic, Shadow, Strike, Rouge and Aqua were busy fending them off. Well, the boys and Rouge were.

Aqua was firing bubbles like mad but they didn't seem to do anything to the robots. She spent most of her time jumping out of the way of laser fire. She eventually got caught and was pinned under one of the mechs legs. Thankfully, Strike saved her before it put its weight down by sending an electric shock through it, disabling it, leaving Rouge the chance to Spin Kick through it.

Strike picked the hedgehog girl up and took off to the side. He put her down, told her to stay there and rejoined the fight. Aqua simply nodded. She knew she didn't stand a chance and this fact made her feel sad. In the past, she was only able to fight the weak robots and when up against stronger ones, she couldn't do anything except be saved by Sonic or the others. She wanted to be stronger.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Shadow had just finished off the last one and watched it go up in flames.

"Heh, no matter how hard he tries, Eggy just can't make good enough to beat us" the blue hero smirked.

"Yeah, but he still has a Chaos Emerald. We need to find the last two before he does" Shadow stated.

Rouge wrapped her arms around him. "Aw, you worry too much. Come on, let's go take a break" she said, dragging Shadow back to the castle.

Aqua proceeded to follow them when she got an idea. She tapped Strike on the shoulder, which startled him a bit. When he found out it was only Aqua, he calmed down though slightly confused. The two didn't really talk much, not since meeting on Southern Island.

"What do you want, Aqua?" he asked.

Aqua began to blush. She was still nervous when talking to Strike. She didn't know why but there was something about him that made her feel this way.

"Uh, I was wondering… You're a good fighter and I want to be stronger, so I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight better?" she asked.

Strike was slightly shocked. Aqua barely spoke to him yet she was asking him to teach her.

"Sure" he replied. "Tomorrow at Wave Ocean, 11am."

* * *

The next day, Strike and Aqua went to Wave Ocean.

"OK, let's begin" Strike began. "At the moment, your only powers are to shoot water and bubbles, form bubbles, breathe underwater and not dehydrate."

"Yeah, but shooting water and bubbles isn't going to be enough to take on those really big robots" Aqua explained, slightly disheartened.

Strike began to think. "When I was learning how to fight, I managed to gain new abilities. I think with enough training, you could develop some."

Aqua tilted her head, "You think?"

"It's worth a shot" the yellow hedgehog said, with a smile.

* * *

And so, over the next two weeks, Strike and Aqua went down to Wave Ocean every day. Strike pushed Aqua to her limits. She had managed to make her own abilities much more powerful but there were no signs of her developing any new ones.

One day, Aqua just slumped on the ground, exhausted.

"Come on, Aqua. You can't stop now!" Strike insisted.

"What's the point? I'm not getting any new abilities. All I'm doing is wasting your time" the hedgehog girl replied.

Strike didn't want to give up on her. She was a nice girl and during their training sessions, the two had become good friends. And he wasn't going to walk out on a friend. Then an idea hit him.

"Fine" he said, turning away, which shocked Aqua. "You clearly don't have the skill. As they say, quit while you're a head. You don't have what it takes to be a fighter."

Aqua was hurt. In the past couple of the weeks, Strike had said how good she was. Now, he was basically calling her weak. This made her so mad!

"Look here!" she yelled, pointing at him. As soon as she did this, a huge torrent of water shot out of the sea and crashed down on Strike. Aqua was taken aback and immediately ran to help him.

"Strike, I'm so sorry!" she apologised but she realised Strike was smiling.

"Yes! You did it!" he beamed.

Aqua was even more confused so Strike decided to spell it out to her.

"I managed to hit something deep inside your brain that fuelled you to hurt me. In doing that, you've managed to control a body of water. I'm sorry if it seemed cruel but I wasn't going to give up on you" he explained.

Aqua's expression was a mix of happiness and surprise. To Strike's surprise, she pulled him into a hug while thanking him over and over again. Strike hugged her back saying "You're welcome."

* * *

Some more time passed and, soon, Aqua had managed to not only control her new ability but had managed to gain more. She could now create a clone of herself out of water and even heal minor wounds. She was also very happy. And she had Strike to thank for that.

One day, she arrived at the beach, all ready to do some more training when she realised that Strike wasn't there. Slightly confused, she decided to head back to the castle. However, something caught her eye. It was the white Chaos Emerald. She couldn't believe her luck. As she pocketed it, the waters began to ripple. Suddenly, a huge floating robot that looked like a fish jumped out and focused on Aqua. Eggman appeared next to it in his mobile.

"Well, if it isn't the water brat. This should be easy" he smirked.

Aqua immediately got nervous. She had never fought against Eggman with her new powers but it looked like now was the time. If only Strike or one of the others was here.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the robot fired missiles out of its mouth. She backflipped to dodge them and landed on a nearby rock. Gathering all the power she had, she shot a bunch of bubbles at the robot. They didn't do any major damage but they caused it to nearly lose altitude. With it in a moment of weakness, Aqua jumped off the rock, flipped several times in the air and brought the heel of her foot on its head. A dent appeared which infuriated the doctor.

"That's it! No more fooling around!" he cried, as the robot revealed turrets in its fins. Aqua knew she would never survive that and immediately nosedived to the ocean. The turrets fired but they all missed. Aqua eventually landed in the sea and her fur allowed her to blend in. Eggman knew she could breathe underwater so he ordered his robot to open fire on the water. The blasts showed their mark on the surface but it was unknown if Aqua managed to survive.

When the onslaught stopped, Eggman began to worry. He didn't want to kill her and if he did, he would've lost the Chaos Emerald. Suddenly, the sea blue hedgehog jumped out of the water from behind and prepared to fire more bubbles at the robot. It was quicker and spun around, slashing its tail across her, cutting her in half! Eggman was taken aback but he nearly screamed when he saw her turn into water.

"That was a clone!" he realised. But then where was the real Aqua?

The answer came when Aqua climbed back onto the beach and raised her arms. Suddenly, a whirlpool appeared under the robot before rising up to engulf it in a typhoon. Eggman was startled at how much stronger she had gotten. When the typhoon ended, the robot was nearly wrecked. It was still floating but it was sparking and rocking, on the verge of collapsing.

"Rats, looks like I've lost this" he mumbled. He then noticed the robot charging something up in its mouth.

"NO! DON'T USE THAT!" he yelled, but it was too late. The robot fired a white laser straight at Aqua. It was too fast and hit Aqua dead centre. She was thrown up into the air and came crashing back down with several burns. Normally Aqua would heal them but she could only do it on minor wounds and these were not minor.

Eggman sat in shock. He quickly floated down and saw her not moving. He had better get out of there fast. He was about to make a grab for the emerald when he heard Strike cry "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

The electric user kicked Eggman up into the air, sending him flying. The robot began charging up another laser until Silver came out of nowhere, picked up a rock and threw it straight at it, causing it to blow up. The rest of the team ran up to Strike, who was huddled over Aqua, trying to shake her awake.

"Come on, Aqua! Don't die on me, don't die!" he cried. He immediately grabbed Tails. "What do we do?" he asked.

Tails looked at Aqua. "Well, she's suffered some very bad burns" he began to say but Strike interrupted him.

"Really? I didn't notice!" he yelled, sarcastically. "Just tell what to do to help her!"

"Well, the only thing I can think of is CPR but I don't…"

Once again, Strike interrupted the young fox by immediately bending down and breathing air into her. He began to push on her chest as well and repeated. On the fourth time, Sonic noticed something.

"Uh, bro…" he tried to say but Strike wasn't listening. He repeated the process another six times, before Sonic tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" Strike demanded.

"She's awake" Sonic said.

Strike's eyes widened as he turned round and saw Aqua's eyes wide open and she was breathing properly.

"For how long?" he asked.

"Since the fourth time" he replied, awaiting Strike's reaction, which was spluttering gibberish, before turning to Aqua who was getting up and saying "Aqua, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

He stopped when he realised that Aqua was smiling. Strike was about to ask why until Aqua pulled him in and began to kiss him. Strike's eyes nearly popped out of his head, like everyone else, but they eventually closed as he returned Aqua's affection.

Elise smiled as she saw the two lovers. She then remembered the others, Silver and Blaze, Shadow and Rouge, Tails and Cosmo. Her attention turned to Sonic who didn't notice her staring at him. She remembered what Shadow told her to do and began to wonder if she ever could.

Unknown to the whole group, a figure who was holding the purple emerald stepped into the sunlight and watched them in secret. He looked exactly like Shadow except his highlights and shoes were grey, he had no mouth and green, snake-like eyes.

"Enjoy the peace while you can. Because now, the prophecy will be fulfilled and my revenge will be complete!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the future, Chrono had been called to the labs at GUE. They had found something on the tablet that foretold the end of the world.

"Well," the impatient tanuki asked.

One of the researchers pointed at what looked like a bit of dirt on the tablet and then pointed at the picture on the computer. It displayed some more text.

"It turns out this bit of dirt is actually another paragraph to the prophecy" he explained.

Chrono began to read it the whole prophecy. "When the purest light and wind meet, darkness will be reborn. If this happens, the wind shall stop blowing. However, the light can protect the wind but at a terrible cost."

The tanuki began to think. "Sonic must be the wind, since if the wind stops blowing, the world shall become what it is today. But what's the light?"

He then remembered to when he went back to the present to kill Sonic. He saw the Princess of Soleanna there as well. Thinking back to the info about the crisis, he remembered that it began in Soleanna, some time after Sonic arrived. That meant that Elise could be the light. Sudden realisation dawned on him and he began to shake.

"Chrono, what's wrong?" the researcher asked.

Chrono responded by running off shouting "I've got to save Elise!"

**Next time: the beginning of the end. Shadows will**** rise and one being will get their revenge!**


	24. Chapter 24

**To those who saw the villain coming, I'm not surprised. It was pretty obvious. The ending will make you gasp in shock, hate me or both. Either way, enjoy!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 24: His World Part 1: Darkness Reborn

It was a new day in Soleanna. The Sonic Heroes were in the living room discussing how they were going to get Eggman's emerald so they could finally defeat him. It seemed the day would go fine. Little did they know that it was going to be much worse.

"So, do we have any ideas about how we're going to steal Eggman's emerald?" asked Elise.

"I could sneak in and steal it, if we knew where Eggman's base was" Rouge said.

Sonic turned to Strike. "You went to his base once. Where was it?" he asked.

Strike shook his head. "Eggman isn't stupid. He's most probably moved out and set it up somewhere else since he found out I'm with you guys."

"How about we draw him out?" suggested Silver.

"That could work" Tails replied thoughtfully. "And I have just the things that'll help us."

Reaching into his namesakes, Tails pulled out the white emerald and what looked like Eggman's emerald.

"Those aren't real emeralds, are they?" asked Amy.

"No, they're fake." Tails held the white one up. "This one we'll use to lure Eggman out." He then held up the red one. "We'll then swap this with his own so we don't arouse his suspicion."

He handed the emeralds to Rouge and Aqua. "You'll two will hold on to these for the time being while we set a trap up" Tails explained.

The two girls nodded and pocketed the emeralds. Suddenly, an eruption was heard from plaza.

Sonic smirked. "Guess that plan will have to wait."

* * *

As the heroes got outside, they saw something they didn't expect. Eggman was giving orders to his robots but they seemed to be protecting the nearby citizens from what looked like purple tigers and birds.

Sonic turned to Elise and Smit. "You two get the citizens to safety. The rest of us will take care of these things!"

Both humans nodded and proceeded to evacuate. Sonic and co. aligned themselves with the robots and began to fight. Cream and Cosmo, believing that they'd do better at helping Elise and Smit, moved aside to help them.

Sonic was running circles around the creatures, lifting them up into the air, allowing Shadow to use Chaos Spear and destroy them. Silver had picked up several barrels and was hurling them everywhere in order to stop them closing in on him. A bird was about to swoop in on him but Strike knocked it out of the air with a thunderbolt.

Aqua and Blaze stood back to back and fired water and fire respectively. They managed to keep them at bay until a titan appeared. It was about to crush them but Amy smashed its leg, causing it to fall over, allowing Rouge to Screw Kick into its core.

Tails was flying above them, throwing rings that stunned the creatures, allowing Knuckles to kill them. Another titan appeared that brought its fist down. Knuckles managed to catch it but was having difficulty holding it up. The giant was about to bring its other fist down but Omega fired a missile at it, toppling it over, giving Knuckles the chance to spin downwards into the core, destroying it.

The rest of the creatures were destroyed by the robots. The team regrouped, with Eggman getting out of his Egg mobile.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Knuckles.

"I noticed these creatures and decided that they should be destroyed. Look at how they've damaged the city" the doctor explained.

Everyone looked about and realised that these things had been attacking for a while.

"What were those things anyway?" asked Cosmo.

Suddenly, the sky became darker and an electrical disturbance caused Eggman's robots to shut down, apart from Omega.

"Now what?" Strike pondered as he looked around.

Then, to their surprise, a black cloud appeared on the floor near the heroes and something began to emerge from it. Everyone tried to get a closer look at what it was and were all taken aback at what they saw.

"My, you all seem surprised to see me" the figure spoke.

"You! You're the one who told me Blaze was kidnapped!" Silver cried.

The team turned to face the being. "Just who are you?" Elise asked, trying to sound brave but in reality, she was terrified. She had seen this person in her dreams as well.

The figure spoke again. "I'm Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark. No need for you lot to introduce yourselves" he said.

"Why not?" Cream asked. "Have you been watching us?"

"I admit, the rabbit, yellow hedgehog, light blue hedgehog, plant girl and old man are unknown to me, but I know the rest of you" Mephiles replied, labelling the team off, freaking them out.

"Shadow, Silver, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Blaze, Rouge, Omega, Eggman, Elise and, of course, Sonic!" he smirked, or at least he would if he had a mouth.

Everyone looked at Sonic, who seemed to be backing away from the Shadow look-a-like.

"You can't be…" he stuttered.

"Oh but I am. And I can prove it!" Mephiles opened his arms wide and flashed. When it died down, he had turned into a crystalline hedgehog. Instead of spikes as his feet though, he now had crystal versions of Shadow's shoes.

Now, Sonic was horrified. "This can't be! You shouldn't even exist!" he yelled.

"Yet here I stand. I really have to thank you and the princess here. After all, you were the ones who blew Solaris out" Mephiles explained.

The others were confused. What were they talking about?

Mephiles noticed this. "You seem confused. Allow me to help you remember!" He pulled out the purple emerald and several lights shot out of it. Two things happened. The rest of the emeralds appeared around Mephiles while several lights pierced the ones Mephiles mentioned. They all screamed in pain as memories came flooding back to them.

Elise was stunned. Thee memories were her dreams. All of them. She now remembered everything.

Shadow faced his counterpart. "Mephiles. I remember now!" he cried with anger.

"Good. Now allow me to explain my return. When Elise blew Solaris out, time energy stuck onto her and Sonic. As time passed, it matured to become extremely reactive. When Sonic and Elise met, it reacted and gave birth to me once more!"

Sonic and Elise were dumbstruck. Mephiles continued. "I was alive but weak. I managed to gain power over time but I was also able to feed off of Elise's negative emotions to fuel my power even further! Now, I will fulfil the prophecy and gain my revenge!" he yelled, firing a purple orb at Sonic, knocking him back.

He waved his hand to swipe everyone else away and then set up a barrier so he and Sonic could fight. The others tried to break the barrier, especially Shadow.

Sonic stood up and got ready to fight. "You were beaten once, it can be done again!"

"Things have changed this time!" Mephiles cried. He jumped and threw a fist at the hedgehog. Sonic stumbled but Mephiles began to punch him over and over again, not giving him a chance to react. He then kicked him in the stomach, knocking him across the ground. Sonic jumped back up and ran full speed, curving into a ball and spinning into Mephiles' gut. He uncurled to kick him away but Mephiles landed on his feet. He fired a purple beam, similar to the one he used to kill Sonic, at him but the blue hero was able to dodge it by jumping. He spun downwards to the time demon but Mephiles clawed at him, greatly wounding him.

* * *

The other heroes were still trying to break the barrier while Eggman explained what Mephiles did to Cream, Strike, Aqua, Cosmo and Smit. When they understood, they took part in helping destroy the barrier.

Elise, while doing all she could to help as Sonic got attacked, was thinking of one memory. The one where she kissed Sonic to bring him back. If Sonic knew all about what had happened, does that mean he does know about her feelings towards him? She'd have to ask later.

* * *

Mephiles picked Sonic up by the throat and threw him into the ground. Even though he had no mouth, he was clearly smiling.

"Once I've killed you, I'll take your time energy and use it to bring about a world of flames and darkness. Just as the prophecy foretold" he said, maliciously.

Sonic tried to stand up but was having trouble. "I'll never lose to you!" he cried.

"You're not really in any fit shape to say that. But enough chit-chat!"

Mephiles created a red orb in his hand and aimed it at Sonic. "Say hello to the bringer of your demise! This ends here!"

Everyone saw Mephiles point it at Sonic. They all pushed as hard as they could against the barrier. It began to weaken. It could be destroyed but by then, Sonic would've been killed. Elise couldn't let that happen. She pushed as hard as she could to try and save Sonic.

Sonic stared straight at the orb that was forming. Mephiles laughed. "Now, time to fulfil the prophecy! Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

He fired the orb. Sonic shut his eyes. There was a purple flash as he heard someone scream his name. When the flash died down, he realised he was still alive. Looking around, he saw everyone have a look of shock on their face, even Mephiles. It took him a while to realise why. Elise was lying on the floor at his feet. A look of horror came to his face as he knelt down and turned her face towards him. She was breathing still.

"Elise. Why'd you take the hit?" he asked.

"Because I didn't want you to die again" she replied, a tear rolling down her face. "I'm sorry. But there's something I need to tell you. I've kept in for too long. I… love… you."

Sonic's eyes widened. She did love him. Before he could say anything else, Elise's eyes closed. Sonic thought she was asleep but he was wrong. He tried shaking her awake.

"Elise? Elise, you've gotta wake up."

Sadly, she didn't reply. Sonic shook his head as the truth hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Elise? Elise! ELISE!!!" Sonic yelled. But there was no point. No matter how loud he cried, there was no waking her.

Princess Elise was dead.


	25. Chapter 25

**Penultimate chapter! We're approaching the end. Will the heroes win? Read to find out.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 25: His World Part 2: Resurrection of Flames

So, here we are. This is where I started telling this story. The city in ruins, dark sky and a heartbroken hedgehog surrounded by not only his old friends but new ones, as well as Eggman and Smit. They had all seen Elise sacrifice herself for Sonic and all he could do was hold her body and cry. He hadn't done that for a long time but he didn't care. She was gone. He couldn't be bothered to even turn into Dark Sonic and kill Mephiles, since that wouldn't help.

As the heroes crowded around Sonic and Elise, something flew out of her body and Mephiles grabbed it.

"Not what I was expecting but it'll do. It doesn't matter if it's your time energy or hers, the prophecy will still be fulfilled!" he cried.

Behind Mephiles, unknown to him, someone had appeared and saw the dark being and then the body of Elise.

"NO! I'm too late!"

Mephiles turned and was knocked sideways by a claymore. It was Chrono! As Mephiles was hit, he dropped the red and white emeralds, which Aqua and Rouge made a dive for. They grabbed them but Mephiles was already up and swatted the two away, retrieving his prizes.

"Who are you?" he asked, turning to the tanuki.

"I'm Chrono and I'm going to destroy you and save the future!" Chrono declared.

Shadow stepped next to him. "If anyone's going to kill him, it's me!"

Mephiles chuckled. "I'm afraid I'm the last person to wind up dead. I better get going" he said, jumping into a purple portal. Shadow and Chrono tried following him but it closed up before they could.

Silver ran up to them. "Chrono. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I discovered that there was another side to the prophecy. If Sonic didn't die, it would be because of Elise. Now that she's dead, a much bleaker future is being created" Chrono explained.

"We have to track that freak down and stop him" yelled Knuckles.

"We could follow his energy signature" suggested Eggman.

"But for that we'd need the Chaos Emeralds and Mephiles took them all" said Blaze, disheartened.

Rouge and Aqua began to smirk, before pulling out the red and white emeralds.

"Hey, I thought Mephiles took them off you!" Tails exclaimed.

"Correction, he took the fakes" explained Rouge.

"Oh, you girls are geniuses" Strike cheered, kissing Aqua.

"Now we can find that bad man and stop him!" Cream cried, enthusiastically, with Cheese joining in.

"You mean I'll find him" Shadow said. "He's my opponent and I won't let anyone fall before him!"

"You can't go by yourself" Silver argued. "I'll come too. I owe that guy a lot, and not in a good way!"

Chrono stepped forward. "My mission is to save the future. Destroying Mephiles is part of that now so I'll work with you to defeat him."

Strike joined in. "Leave some of that action for me. No one hurts my family and gets away with it!"

Shadow smiled and he and Strike took the emeralds off Rouge and Aqua, giving them one last kiss before leaving. Silver gave one to Blaze too before turning to Sonic.

"Hey, Sonic, you wanna come?" he asked but Sonic didn't reply. Amy stepped forward.

"I'll look after him. You lot just stop Mephiles" she said. Silver nodded.

Omega began to beep. "Mephiles has been located in the volcanic region of Red Mountain."

"Why would he go there?" pondered Shadow.

"Less talk and more getting there!" yelled Strike. Shadow nodded as he grabbed both emeralds and cried "Chaos Control!" There was a flash of light and the four heroes were gone.

* * *

They arrived on a rocky outcrop near a huge crater filled with lava. Strike began to fan himself.

"Mephiles has to be here somewhere. Everyone keep your guard up" Shadow ordered.

Suddenly, he was knocked back by a purple tiger that came out of nowhere, causing him to drop the emeralds. Mephiles landed in front of them and grabbed the emeralds.

"I can't believe those girls tricked me into taking those fakes. Guess they'll have to be the first ones to die!" he said, angrily.

"Over my dead body!" cried Strike, gritting his teeth. He was about to attack when Shadow stepped in front of him.

"Strike, leave Mephiles to me. You and the others handle our friends here" he said, indicating the number of enemies that had suddenly arrived. Strike was about to argue but after seeing the serious look on the black hedgehog's face, he nodded and rushed off to help Silver and Chrono.

Shadow turned to his rival. "I'm ending this right here! You'll pay for all those people you hurt!"

Mephiles chuckled and threw the two emeralds behind him. "Bring it on!"

* * *

Strike was jumping off of the creature's heads repeatedly, crushing the tigers and birds under his weight. He was taken by surprise when a worm came out of the ground and fired several spiky balls at him. He managed to dodge them and threw thunderbolts into its open mouth, destroying it. Another worm came from behind and was about to eat him when Silver held it in its place and threw it into a bunch of tigers.

The white hedgehog was then attacked by several swooping birds but held up a shield to protect himself. He released it, knocking the birds out of the air. A titan came from behind and pinned Silver down with its foot. It put its weight down, crushing him but Chrono whipped out his claymore and smashed it across the titan's body, knocking it over.

As Silver ran off to deal with some other monsters, Chrono got into a stare down with the titan that was getting back up. Chrono focused all his power and saw the titan bringing its fist down. The titan brought it's fist down with amazing speed but since Chrono saw it coming, he countered by shoving the fist away, jumping and digging his weapon into the titan's core, killing it.

Shadow and Mephiles were exchanging and blocking each other's punches and kicks. Neither was winning. They both jumped back and fired their own Chaos Spears that hit and caused an explosion. As the dust cleared, Mephiles found that Shadow was nowhere to be seen. The hedgehog in question then appeared above him and bashed him across the back of the head with his foot. Mephiles jumped back up and fired several purple orbs that exploded as they hit the ground. Shadow weaved his way through them before sliding into his opponent, knocking him into the air. Shadow punched upwards into Mephiles' gut and sent him flying upwards even further. Shadow teleported above Mephiles and kicked him back down. Shadow then grabbed Mephiles by the neck and used Chaos Blast. It didn't hit his friends but the remaining monsters were taken out.

As it cleared down, Mephiles was weak and was having trouble standing. Shadow stepped closer to him.

"Now to finish what I started!" he declared. He was taken aback when he realised Mephiles was laughing.

"I'm afraid I'm the one finishing it" he said, pointing behind Shadow. He and the others turned to see the emeralds floating above the lava, circling a sphere of flames. Mephiles then opened his hand and released the time energy he took form Elise. It entered the sphere and it began to get bigger and take form. The heroes could only stare in shock at it, while Mephiles began to laugh even harder.

"The resurrection of flames is complete. Now, awaken my brother, Iblis!"

Mephiles wasn't lying. Standing before our heroes was none other than Iblis.

"How can this be?" questioned Silver.

"Iblis is the other half of Solaris. When Sonic and Elise met, their time energy wasn't enough to bring him back. So, I had to kill either one of them to get all of it and fuse it with the power of the emeralds. Now, Iblis and I will ruin this planet!" Mephiles declared.

He faced Iblis. "Come, Iblis. Eradicate these nuisances!" he ordered. To his surprise, Iblis turned to him and whacked him away with a swipe of his hand. He then grabbed the emeralds in the palm of his hand and began to glow as it let out a roar.

As the light died down, a new creature stood before them. It looked an awful lot like the Egyptian sun god, Ra, only wearing gold robes, huge golden wings, a curved beak and the fact it was as big as Iblis.

Mephiles was the most shocked by this. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"I am Solaris" the new figure boomed.

"What? You can't be Solaris!" Silver yelled.

"But I am. I am the sun god of Soleanna!" Solaris replied.

Mephiles was in total denial. "You can't! Solaris needs to be formed by combining me and Iblis!"

"I'm afraid your plan failed, Mephiles. Elise's time energy is different to Sonic's. If you had used his, Iblis would've obeyed you. But instead, Elise's energy gave him a will. He would no longer obey you and used the emeralds to turn into me, an alternate form if you will" the god explained.

He then extended his wings. "Now, I shall carry out my own plan. My plan to wipe out every planet in every galaxy in every universe in every dimension! Then, I'll create new ones and rule over them as a god should!"

He cawed and vanished. Shadow turned around to see Mephiles retreating into one of his portals. He was about to follow him when Strike called after him.

"Leave him, Shadow. We've got to get back to Soleanna."

Shadow nodded and gathered the fallen emeralds and Chaos Controlled the team back.

* * *

In Soleanna, the sky was beginning to be filled with thunder. The rest of the heroes were wondering what was going on until Shadow and co. arrived.

"What's happening?" asked Cosmo.

"Mephiles brought Iblis back but since he used the wrong time energy, Iblis betrayed him and turned into an alternate form of Solaris" Silver explained. "Now he plans to wipe out the whole of reality!"

"What do we do?" Smit panicked.

Shadow, who was still holding the emeralds, said "Isn't it obvious? We go up there and stop him!"

He turned to Silver who got the gist of it. He made one last look towards Sonic, who was still in despair. Shaking his head, he said to Shadow "Let's do this!"

The two hedgehogs held the arms out as the emeralds began to circle them. Shadow transformed back into Super Shadow and Silver's fur turned gold too. He was now Super Silver. The two heroes waved to their friends and lovers as they shot up into space to take on Solaris.


	26. Chapter 26

**Final chapter! Thanks to those who've reviewed, submitted story to Favourites or Story Alert especially Sonic Phantom, SupergamerGreg79, DarkspineSilver92 and Akriloth Warrior! Enjoy!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tales of Soleanna

Chapter 26: His World Part 3: Final Battle

Shadow and Silver, in their super forms, flew up above earth and saw Solaris several yards away.

"So, you wish to challenge me? This should prove interesting" the god mocked.

"Don't underestimate us, Solaris!" declared Silver. "We'll destroy you and make sure all worlds stay safe!"

Solaris replied with a smirk and firing several gold lasers at the two hedgehogs, which they easily dodged. Silver tried to get close but Solaris had a gold shield which knocked him back. Shadow fired several Chaos Spears but they bounced off too. Solaris drew his arms back and launched one huge laser at them. Silver pulled up a barrier to protect them both.

When the onslaught passed, Shadow zoomed straight at Solaris' face. Once again, the shield prevented Shadow from doing anything but Silver came from behind and managed to throw an asteroid into Solaris' back. The god cried in pain. It seemed he could only protect one side of himself. In his moment of weakness, Shadow kicked him upwards in the face and fired a Chaos Spear, at close range, into his stomach. It seemed to do quite a bit of damage.

Solaris was fuming and he swiped Shadow away with his hand before sending out several giant, yellow spheres at him. Shadow tried destroying them with his Chaos Spears but he wasn't able to destroy them all. Thankfully, Silver arrived and stopped them before firing them back at the sun god. They exploded upon contact, since Solaris' shield can't stop his own attacks. Shadow and Silver began to charge at full speed towards Solaris, forming into one missile of light. They struck Solaris head on, causing him to caw with pain. Shards of light began to glow from his body as it went up in smoke.

The two super hedgehogs regrouped away and hi-fived. Silver was very enthusiastic

"We did it! We took on Solaris and won!" he cheered, performing loops in the air. Shadow chuckled at his friend's antics until they heard a voice say "Is that all you've got?"

They turned to see Solaris completely unharmed. "You've done well to live this far, but that was merely a test to see if you're worthy to face my ultimate form!"

The god began to glow as his body turned red; he gained a staff that had the symbol of Soleanna on it. His eyes turned completely white and his feet were replaced with talons.

"What happened?" asked Shadow.

"I have turned into my final form! I now have more power than Perfect Chaos, Metal Sonic and Devil Doom combined!" the god explained, looking quite crazed. "Now, DIE!!!"

The god raised his staff and, on top of it, formed a giant red sphere that seemed to be made of lava. It grew bigger and bigger until it made Solaris himself seem small. He then pointed his staff at the two heroes and fired it at them.

Silver tried grabbing it with his powers but the sphere didn't even slow down.

"What's going on? Why can't I grab it?" he panicked.

"It must be too powerful for you to hold!" Shadow concluded, firing hundreds of Chaos Spears that bounced off. By the time they realised nothing could stop it, it was too late. The sphere hit them dead on and exploded in a flash of light. As it cleared, Shadow and Silver were no longer super and were unconscious as they fell back to the planet.

* * *

From the other's point of view, they saw the flash of light and were wondering what it was. Omega zoomed in as far as he could and saw two falling figures.

"It appears Shadow and Silver have failed" he stated. It sounded like he didn't care but he did.

"That's it then. We've lost. Existence itself is going to be wiped out!" Strike despaired.

As the heroes panicked, Sonic still knelt there. He was oblivious to what was happening until he heard a voice in his head.

"Sonic. Don't give up" it said. It sounded like Elise. "You can't let my death be in vain. Only you can stop him. You have to. For me."

Sonic closed his eyes for a while before quickly opening them. Now he knew what he had to do.

* * *

Solaris was laughing at his triumph. He watched with joy at Shadow and Silver falling to their doom. Suddenly, a streak of light flew past them, grabbing hold of them. The light then stopped in front of the sun god. The two rescued hedgehogs opened their eyes to see their saviour.

"SONIC!"

Solaris was stunned as he saw Super Sonic give some of his power to his friends so that they may return to their super forms.

"Sonic the Hedgehog. Your presence doesn't mean you'll win. I could beat your pathetic friends easily. What makes you think you can make a difference?" the god mocked.

Sonic smirked. "Because someone I care about sacrificed herself so I can stop something like this happening." He pointed at Solaris. "I will not let you destroy reality!"

"Fine. Try and succeed where your friends have failed!" Solaris challenged as he fired the same attack he used on Shadow and Silver. Sonic, looking incredibly smug, zoomed straight at it. Shadow and Silver told him to stop but he wasn't stopping. To everyone's astonishment, he went straight through the attack, dismissing it. Solaris was in too much shock to stop Sonic from punching him on the beak.

As he reeled back, Shadow launched several Chaos Spears while silver hurled asteroids. Solaris was unable to block them and he recoiled with every hit. He swept his staff at them, summoning a trail of fire that split in three to chase after them. The three hedgehogs split up and tried to outrun the flames. Solaris watched in anticipation as they approached closer to their targets. It took him a while to realise they were heading for him. They all zoomed straight past him with such speed, that the flames couldn't stop. They hit their master, causing a great deal of pain.

Solaris was becoming annoyed at the heroes and prepared several yellow spheres. He had failed to notice that Silver had wrenched his staff out of his hands and clubbed him over the head with it. Silver used all the strength he could muster to swing the staff around the god's head, over and over again.

He dropped the staff when Solaris grabbed him and began to crush him to death. Thankfully, Shadow punched Solaris right in the gut, adding extra strength into his fist. Solaris released Silver as he bent over in pain.

The two hedgehogs flew back and both cried, "Sonic, now!"

Sonic, who was several metres away, zoomed at Solaris from behind. He picked up speed, entering a Super Sonic Boom. He went so fast, Solaris couldn't defend himself and Sonic went straight through his chest. The sun god cried in pain as he began to crack, before exploding with such force, it knocked the heroes back to earth.

* * *

In Soleanna, the clouds were beginning to clear up, revealing the sun. Everyone cheered, knowing the three hedgehogs had done it.

Eggman was about to sneak away until he noticed something. "What's that heading straight for us?" he questioned.

Everyone looked to see a streak of light coming at them. It hit the ground, exploding in a flash of light that blinded them. When it cleared, Shadow and Silver had reverted back to their old forms, holding their heads. Everyone cheered and the two received hugs from their lovers. Amy wasn't looking so happy.

"Where's Sonic?" she asked, looking about.

Cosmo noticed something too. "Elise's body is gone too" she mentioned.

Silver turned to Shadow. "What do you think happened?" he asked. He was startled when he saw Shadow smiling.

"Oh, I've got fair idea where they went" he chuckled.

* * *

The scene shifts to the forest where Sonic showed Elise the place filled with flowers. Flying down was Super Sonic, holding Elise's body. As he touched down, he looked around to make sure no one had followed him before looking at Elise.

"Thank you, Elise. You gave me the motivation to stop Solaris. I…" he tried to say but knew actions spoke louder than words. He moved his lips closer to hers until they were touching. Sonic's fur then went back to blue as a flash of light covered Elise's body. Sonic set it down and waited. A few minutes passed before Elise began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open. She sat up, slightly disorientated. She then realised she was alive and turned to see Sonic smiling. She immediately gave Sonic the biggest hug he had ever received.

"Sonic, I'm alive. You brought me back" she said, a tear rolling down her face.

"Hey, what are friends for" he replied.

The two stared at each other for a while in silence until Elise cupped her hands around Sonic's face and kissed him, which he returned. They stayed there in that position for what seemed like hours until they pulled away for air.

Elise moved her mouth to Sonic's ear and whispered "I love you, Sonic."

"I love you too, Elise" was the reply.

Elise closed her eyes and smiled until she heard sniffling. She pulled away to see Sonic wiping his eyes.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Sonic tried to speak but found difficulty. "I'm glad I finally know how I feel about you but… It's not going to work is it? A hedgehog and human? It will never work out!" he cried.

Elise knew he was right. No matter how they loved each other, they couldn't exactly have a relationship together. Sonic stood there letting the tears come until he heard Elise say,

"Sonic. Just smile."

Sonic lifted his head to see her smiling at him. Sonic returned it and said "We may not be able to be together, but there's no harm in being friends, right?"

Elise nodded and the two exchanged one last kiss, knowing it would be their last. They eventually parted and made their way back to Soleanna.

* * *

You can probably guess what happened at the castle when they got back. There was a huge celebration once they found out Elise was still alive. They explained that the emeralds had vanished again and that Eggman left the city. Which meant it was time for them to go too.

Chrono had already left for his own time period, now that his job was done. Shadow, Rouge and Omega were heading back to GUN, since they no longer had to protect Elise. Strike and Aqua took off to explore the world while Knuckles took the Master Emerald back to Angel Island. Silver and Blaze had decided to take a break and head over to Station Square to rent themselves an apartment. Tails, Amy, Cream and Cosmo had trouble fitting into the Tornado but they managed it. Sonic said he'd follow them from the ground.

As the plane took off, he turned to Elise once more and they exchanged hugs.

"Remember Elise, I may not be here but as long as I'm in here…" he pointed at where her heart was, "I'll never be gone."

Elise gave her biggest smile yet and gave Sonic one last kiss on the cheek. Sonic waved goodbye as he took off.

As he faded into the distance, Elise said "Until next time, Sonic the Hedgehog."

* * *

Meanwhile, Mephiles tumbled out of his portal in an unknown location. He was in a really bad mood. His plan had failed, Iblis had betrayed him and no doubt Sonic had brought Elise back. Not just that, his thoughts were focused on a certain black hedgehog. He yelled in anger, slamming a nearby computer console that suddenly came on. Interested, he searched through the data and was shocked by what he found. Walking to a nearby window, he saw the planet. His eye caught something near the console. It was a puddle of dried blood. A plan began to form in the demon's head and his eyes contained a hint of a smile in them.

"Get ready for my revenge, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

**The End!**

**The world has been save once more and true feelings have been revealed! But evil still stalks!What is Mephiles' plan? Find out on my next story, Tournament of the Stars!**


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